- Dec 30, 2012
- 4,809
Be honest, have you ever really been worried about your Apple device getting hacked? I never truly considered the possibility. That is, until I heard about the ransomware attack which affected iCloud users in Australia and the U.S. recently. Victims were locked out of their iPhones by an "Oleg Pliss" and told to pay $100 to unlock their device. In a blog post, web security specialist Troy Hunt broke down details of the hack.
How The Hack Happened
The "Find My iPhone", or iPad or Mac, service is a pretty handy app. As it's clear from the name, the app lets you pinpoint the location of your lost device. For iPhones, this app lets users enter a message on its screen that asks for the owner to be called, remotely set a PIN for your phone, or erase all your data. Obviously once you realize your device isn't on you, you should put it in Lost Mode immediately and enter a passcode to prevent someone from accessing your personal information.
This all sounds peachy, right? The problem is that if an attacker has access to your iCloud, she or he can do these exact same things as well. It seems that the crook behind this recent ransomware attack used the "Find My iPhone" features to remotely lock peoples' device and then demanded cash in exchange for unlocking their devices.
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