FULLERTON, California (AP) -- A U.S. computer repairman suspected of installing spyware on laptops that enabled him to snap and download photographs of women showering and undressing in their homes was arrested Wednesday at his home, police said.
This photo provided by the Fullerton (Calif.) Police Department on Wednesday shows Trevor Harwell. Police say Harwell, a Southern California computer repairman installed spyware on laptops that enabled him to snap and download photographs of women showering and undressing in their homes. (AP-Yonhap News)
Police began investigating when a Fullerton resident complained about suspicious messages appearing on his daughter's computer last year. Trevor Harwell installed software that took control of computer webcams on his clients' Mac laptops, Fullerton police Sgt. Andrew Goodrich said.
The software sent fake error messages telling users to ``fix their internal sensor soon,'' and ``try putting your laptop near hot steam for several minutes to clean the sensor,'' Goodrich said.
The error message prompted some victims to take their laptops into the bathroom with them when they showered, he said.
``Once he had access, he would take photographs of the users, usually women,'' Goodrich said. ``Often, the female victims were undressed or changing clothes. Harwell then stored the photos on a remote server, and eventually downloaded them on his own computer.''
Detectives seized hundreds of thousands of still images and videos from Harwell's computer and identified several victims, Goodrich said.
Investigators believe Harwell, a technician for Rezitech Inc., may have exploited computers connected to Biola University's internal network. Harwell, 20, is a former student at the La Mirada school, where many of the victims attended.
Orange County Superior Court records show that Harwell faces 12 felony counts of computer access and fraud, The Orange County Register reported. It wasn't known Wednesday evening if Harwell had obtained an attorney.
(한글요약)
웹컴 몰래카메라 설치한 수선공 체포
미국의 한 컴퓨터 수선공이 여성 고객들의 노트북에 스파이웨어를 설치해 샤워하고 옷을 갈아입는 모습을 몰래 촬영한 협의로 체포되었다.
캘리포니아 풀러톤 지역 경찰은 한 주민이 작년에 딸의 컴퓨터에서 수상한 메시지가 나타난다는 신고를 받고 수사에 착수했다.
조사 결과 트레버 하웰이란 수선공이 고객들의 맥 노트북의 웹캠을 통제할 수 있는 소프트웨어를 설치해놓은 것으로 나타났다.
이 소프트웨어는 사용자들에게 “내부 센서를 즉시 수선하라. 랩톱을 뜨거운 수증기에 수 분동안 노출시켜 센서를 청소하라”는 가짜 에러 메시지를 보냈다.
이 메시지를 본 사용자들은 샤워할 때 랩톱을 목욕실에 가져갔다.
“하웰은 보통 여성사용자들의 사진을 찍곤 했다. 여성 피해자들이 옷을 벗고 있거나 옷을 갈아입고 있으면 그는 사진을 서버에 저장하고 자신의 컴퓨터로 다운로드했다”고 지역 경찰관 앤드류 굳리치는 밝혔다.
수사관들은 하웰의 컴퓨터에서 수십만 장의 사진과 비디오를 압수하고 피해자들의 신원을 확인했다고 밝혔다.