Mac tech jailed for hacking webcams to spy on women

A Macintosh technician from Orange County, California has been arrested after being caught tampering with women's computer webcams, allowing him to spy on them while in the privacy of their own homes.

Trevor Harwell, an employee of Rezitech has been arrested on suspicion of installing software on women's laptops which allowed him to take control of the computers webcam. He would take pictures and record videos of them undressing and showering in front of the machines. Police say they seized hundreds of thousands of still images and videos from his own computer.

Rezitech have said “Harwell did not commit any of the alleged offenses while performing work on behalf of Rezitech or while working on Rezitech computers or the computers of Rezitech customers.”

Harwell, only 20 seems to have been rather devious in his peeping tom efforts. He apparently installed software which messaged the women saying to “fix their internal sensor soon,” and “try putting your laptop near hot steam for several minutes to clean the sensor.”

According to the reports, some of the women involved would then take their laptops into the bathroom as they showered. It might be hard to believe, but that's what the report states.

One of the women's father however caught onto the messages and he informed the police about the situation. Sgt Andrew Goodrich told reporters “Once he had access, he would take photographs of the users, usually women. 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.”

Harwell has been charged in Orange County Superior Court with 12 felony counts of computer access and fraud.

Rezitech spokesman Travis Austin sent PCMag a statement “Upon learning of the alleged actions of Mr. Harwell, Rezitech took immediate and aggressive action to ensure that Mr. Harwell's access to all customer systems and data was eliminated. Rezitech has fully cooperated and will continue to cooperate with law enforcement in an effort to assist them in their investigation of this matter.

“To Rezitech's knowledge, Mr. Harwell did not commit any of the alleged offenses while performing work on behalf of Rezitech or while working on Rezitech computers or the computers of Rezitech customers. Rezitech fully understands the gravity of the charges brought against Mr. Harwell and greatly sympathizes with those who Mr. Harwell is alleged to have victimized.”

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