Hacker who stole nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence and countless other celebrities jailed for 18 months

Collins sent fake emails appearing to be from Apple or Google to encourage victims to hand over usernames and passwords

Jennifer Lawrence was one of the first actresses to be targeted by hackers leaking naked pictures of celebrity women

The man who hacked into the email accounts of more than 100 women to steal nude photos and videos has been sentenced to 18 months in jail.

Ryan Collins, 36, from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, plead guilty in May to gaining access to at least 50 Apple iCloud and 72 Gmail accounts between November 2012 and September 2014.

Many accounts belonged to female celebrities such as actresses Jennifer Lawrence, Kirsten Dunst and Kate Upton whose nude photographs were released online in what became known as "The Fappening".

Collins sent fake emails that appeared to be from Apple or Google to encourage his victims to unknowningly hand over their usernames and passwords.

The process, known as "phishing," allowed collins to hack into private email accounts and steal personal information, including nude photos and videos.

"In some instances, Collins would use a software program to download the entire contents of the victims' Apple iCloud backups," the Pennsylvania US Attorney's Office said in a statement.

"In addition, Collins ran a modeling scam in which he tricked his victims into sending him nude photographs."

However, the attorney's office noted that investigators have not uncovered any evidence Collins uploaded or shared the information and images or that he was linked to the actual leaks.

Collins was the first person arrested in connection with the security breach.

A second man, Edward Majerczyk, 29, plead guilty to the same charge in September and is due to be sentenced in January. He faces up to five years in prison.

Investigators have said the hacks were not related.