FBI Charges Man Over 'Hollywood Hacking'

A Florida man has been charged over the alleged hacking of email accounts belonging to celebrities, including Scarlett Johansson and Christina Aguilera.

Christopher Chaney, 35, of Jacksonville, was indicted in Los Angeles on 25 counts of identity theft and hacking after a year-long investigation, dubbed Operation Hackerazzi.

Nude photographs of actress Johansson appeared on the internet in September after her mobile phone was reportedly hacked.

High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens has also reportedly spoken to the FBI about compromising images being stolen her email accounts.

Mila Kunis, Selena Gomez, Jessica Alba and Miley Cyrus were also among the celebrities believed to have been targeted by a hacker in recent months.

A federal grand jury claims that, beginning late last year, Chaney gained unauthorised access to the email accounts of more than 50 people - but the indictment only listed 11 specific incidents.

Prosecutors say he hacked into Google, Apple and Yahoo accounts and hijacked the forwarding feature, so a copy of every message received went to an email account that he controlled.

"While the case against Mr Chaney involves celebrities who were targeted because of their fame - this case reminds us that we are all potential victims of computer hackers," US attorney Andre Birotte Jr said in the statement.

"Everyone can take simple steps that will help protect their computer system."