Apple “hijack” virus hits Apple devices – May 14′
Apple devices, once thought to be pretty much impervious to virus’s and other such binary nasties have experienced a sudden influx of complaints from users that have had either their iPad or iPhones hijacked and in some cases hijacked for random. iPhone and iPad users globally reported waking up to find a message on their screens that openly declare their devices to been locked down by a hack and that users should pay various sums of money to various PayPal accounts to relinquish the hijackers control over their device.
Whilst initially the worst case scenario of an iCloud hack was proposed, Apple have been quick to dismiss this is the case instead suggesting that a lone hacker running a relatively simple loop hole “phishing” hack was at play. Paypal have also been quick to assure users that whilst the email addresses displayed on victims devices didn’t seem to be connected to genuine PayPal accounts they would refund any money sent to these accounts back to their users.
“Apple takes security very seriously and iCloud was not compromised during this incident. Impacted users should change their Apple ID password as soon as possible and avoid using the same user name and password for multiple services.”
How it works
The hacker managed to gain access to people’s iCloud accounts and enabled people’s “Find My Phone” application, an application enabled via Apple’s iCloud service that enables a user to search for a lost or stolen iPhone or iPad by tracking its 3G or wireless signal remotely and crucially also allows a user to remotely lock their device with a passcode should they suspect their device has been stolen. In this case the hacker took advantage of users who hadn’t yet set a passcode for their devices and set one instead.
Whilst a simple solution to cure the ransomware was available by plugging the device in and restoring it from an iCloud backup, users unaware of this were left helpless to access their devices. All users are being advised by Apple to reset their iCloud passwords and promises it will investigate the loop hole in security.
For images of the hacked devices and further information please visit:
