A number of iOS and Mac users in Australia this morning woke up to a concerning message indicating that their devices had been remotely locked by a hacker demanding upwards $100 in the form of a PayPal payment to unlock it.
Originally reported by The Age, affected users were alerted via a "Find My iPhone" message that their device had been hacked by "Oleg Pliss", a name not believed to be associated with the true perpetrator or perpetrators.
Troy Hunt, an IT security expert, speculated that hackers were using compromised login credentials from recent data breaches to access accounts and lock users out.
As is often the case, web users largely use the same password across their multiple online services, meaning that if their password is compromised in a breach at one firm and they do not change it, their other accounts become vulnerable.
As a general rule, employing the same password across multiple sites is potentially dangerous and should be avoided as to prevent attacks like the above.
If you happen to be an affected user looking to alleviate the issue, relevant support threads have sprung up on Apple's website with users sharing information as to how to deal with it. Notably, The Age relays that iOS users who have passcodes set up can unlock their devices no problem whereas those who don't cannot.
No comments:
Post a Comment