Department of Homeland Security Contractor Blackmailed Women With Their Nude Photos

A contractor with the Department of Homeland Security was sentenced to 18 months in prison for hacking into the computers of 100 women to get nude photos to use for blackmail.

Former Marine Mauricio Cerruto-Rios, 28, used those photos to get more photos and the names of other pretty women for his prey.

He pleaded guilty Friday.

“It's a very troubling case where this individual, who seemingly had a very promising career, took advantage of his knowledge and abilities to hack into computers or emails of victims to find their compromising photographs," Montgomery County state’s attorney spokesman Ramon Korionoff said.

Defense lawyer Luiz Simmons said his client is a good person who has never been in trouble with the law before but did a bad thing.

“Here's a guy whose conviction will probably cost him many serious jobs working with security in the future,” Simmons said. “Well some people would say, ‘Well it should.’”

This kind of hacker uses malicious codes found in the dark corners of the Internet, cybersecurity expert Paul Kurtz said.

"You attach it to an email, they click on it and open it up, and the malicious code is on their system, and you can rifle around inside someone's computer and you can basically take what you want,” he said.

Cerruto-Rios also will undergo psychological evaluation.

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