Australian iPhone users found their iPhones held for ransom in iCloud hack.
Reports come out of Australia where Apple users got emails that said that their device was hacked by Oleg Pliss and they needed to send $100 to get it unlocked.
These emails were not spam. The user’s iPhones really were locked according to ViewNews. Apparently the hacker was able to gain access to the Find My iPhone function in the iCloud to lock the user’s iPhone.
There is an Apple Discussion here with tips on how to get your iPhone back under your control. You need to use a computer to put your iPhone out of lost mode in the iCloud’s Find my iPhone app. Hopefully you have set a passcode, because if not the process of getting your iPhone working again is a bit painful. See the instructions here.
As the hacker gained access to iCloud accounts, make sure you have a strong password and change it often.
The name used in the hacker’s email is fake, but there is an actual Silicon Valley software developer by the same name. He will not be amused that the same name is used in this Apple hack.
This hack just shows the weakness of a centralized cloud based platform. If your key gets stolen you have a big problem. I actually feel much safer since I use the Google two way authentication. Apple is offering that too, I just activated it. See instructions.
Find more Apple News and Rumors in our Apple News Hub and on our new real-time Apple news site Apple Balla. Apple is set to have an exciting fall and holiday season with the release of iOS 7 and OS Maverick in addition to a slew of new devices including the iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C, iPad Air, iPad mini with Retina Display, Mac Pro, MacBook Air, iMac and MacBook Pro. There might also be something completely new that we do not know about. It is likely not the iWatch, which is expected for 2014.