A former employee of the prominent home security company ADT admitted that he hacked into the surveillance feeds of dozens of customer homes, mainly to spy on naked women or to slyly look at innocent couples while having sex.
Telesforo Aviles, 35, pleaded guilty to a charge of computer fraud in federal court this week, confessing that he had improperly accessed customer accounts about 9,600 times over the course of several years. He is accused of having did this for more than 200 customers.
Officials say the IT technician “observed which houses had attractive women and then repeatedly accessed these clients’ accounts to view their footage for sexual satisfaction.” He did this by adding his personal email address to customers’ accounts, which tied him to “real-time access to their home video feeds”.
Aviles, who now faces up to five years in prison, sometimes “claimed that he needed to add himself temporarily to ‘test’ the system; in other cases, he added himself without their knowledge, ”officials said.
“This defendant, charged with protecting clients’ homes, has instead intruded on his most intimate moments”, acting U.S. Lawyer Prerak Shah said on a declaration. “We are pleased to hold you accountable for this disgusting betrayal of trust.”
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Yes, they exist breach of home security data and there are apocalypses of real data – and this incident certainly falls into the latter category.
The news of the scandal first appeared in April, and ADT quickly reported the violation publicly: “We deeply regret this incident and remain committed to working with the police authorities to support them in whatever is necessary to help bring justice to the victims of this former employee”, the company wrote on its website.
The case inspired several lawsuits, however –three of which are in progress. Customers claim that shortly after contacting them about the security incident, ADT tried to “paying them in exchange for their silence”Through confidentiality agreements. One customer claims that she initially received an offer for $ 2,500. When she refused, the company reportedly increased the offer to $ 50,000, BuzzFreports.
The company also told BuzzFhe said he was “continuing to respond to lawsuits and resolved the concerns of most of the 220 affected clients, including those who hired lawyers to resolve the issue”.
“Some of these customers were previously victims of aggression. They were relying on ADT to provide them with a sense of security and protection. Instead, they were victimized again, ” said a lawyer involved in one case, highlighting the psychological effects of such an invasion of privacy.