Hackers threaten to reset iCloud accounts, wipe devices

NEWSWATCH: It seems Apple is under a hacking attack... Not only by the CIA but, most recently, by a hacker group called Turkish Crime Family. Motherboard's Joseph Cox recently reported that come 7 April 2017, the hacker group will reset a number of iCloud accounts and remotely wipe iPhones unless Apple pays a ransom.

By Ilse van den Berg

27 Mar 2017

Hackers threaten to remotely wipe iPhones unless Apple pays a ransom https://t.co/QVZ9kewaKR pic.twitter.com/morFyfLcMT
— Motherboard (@motherboard) March 21, 2017

The group claimed that it can access 250 million iCloud accounts and will do so on 7 April 2017 to reset the password, locking people out of their accounts.

200 Million iCloud accounts will be factory reset on April 7 2017
— Turkish Crime Family (@turkcrimefamily) March 21, 2017

According to the report on Motherboard, "Turkish Crime Family demanded $75,000 in Bitcoin or Ethereum (another increasingly popular crypto-currency) or $100,000 worth of iTunes gift cards in exchange for deleting the alleged cache of data."

Over the weekend, however, Apple reportedly "denied any such compromise in the company’s infrastructure or a direct connection with its servers and hacked credentials."

Apple Denies Turkish Crime Family Hack, New Ransom Details Emerge - NEWSBTC https://t.co/mvRnyZavwv #Apple #ransom #cyberattack
— Ken Feltman (@KenFeltman) March 27, 2017

In reply to an enquiry made by Fortune, an Apple spokesperson said: "There have not been any breaches in any of Apple’s systems including iCloud and Apple ID. The alleged list of email addresses and passwords appears to have been obtained from previously compromised third-party services."

The company said to has taken steps to prevent unauthorised access to customer accounts, while working alongside the law enforcement authorities at the same time.

How to protect your Apple account from getting hacked by the Turkish Crime Family https://t.co/4l9G7mjpSJ pic.twitter.com/N2XiXhsxpQ
— Business Insider (@businessinsider) March 23, 2017

Even if these threats are just threats, it wouldn't hurt to change a password or two before next week...

For more

How to protect your iCloud account, juuust in case the hackers aren't joking via Wired
Hackers are reportedly trying to ransom Apple via The Next Web
Apple Denies Turkish Crime Family Hack, New Ransom Details Emerge via NewsBTC
Apple Responds to Hacker’s Threat to Wipe Hundreds of Millions of iPhones via Fortune
Protecting yourself from the Turkish Crime Family through 2FA via LinkedIn

Ilse Burger

About Ilse van den Berg

Ilse is a freelance journalist and editor with a passion for people & their stories (check out Passing Stories). She is also the editor of Go & Travel, a platform connecting all the stakeholders in the travel & tourism industry. You can check out her work here and here. Contact Ilse through her website here.