Hackers Remotely Locking Some Macs and iOS Devices in Australia for Ransom

Sigh, I wish my devices were hacked. It would force me to actually go outside and admire real life.

 

I setup Apple's 2-step a while back...but why isn't 2-step on ALL Cloud services?

 

Emmm what for those countries which isn't supported with Apple iCloud two-step verification? -.-' iCloud keychain sms verification works for my country like Google, Hotmail, dropbox and etc while Apple don't give a ***** about iCloud two-step...shame

 

I'm on the 2-step password verification... but I was under the impression that if I logged under "iCloud.com" to check my email. I would be prompt to have a secondary security check.

But the 2-step password verification only works for appleid.apple.com.. as far as I know. I have 2 step verification with Google, Microsoft & Dropbox and all them have some form of secondary check with their logins.

Is "icloud.com" separate from the 2-step verification?

 

Using a different password for possibly insecure websites is very important.

 

The verification only happens when you set up a new device, you change your account info (i.e log in to applied.apple.com) or when you forget your password.

 

This has me very worried. I'm mostly concerned to see how they got in -- via guessing from a password from another site or from Apple's servers (however unlikely that maybe).

It's late where I am, and when I'm tired I tend to overreact about things, but this makes me think twice about using Keychain/Find My Mac!

This is all the things that's wrong with cloud stuff -- when we have the possibility to loose even 5% of the control over our device, it becomes very insecure. Having my data held for ransom is not on the top of my bucket list...

 

This is so nerve wracking. Especially since I live in Australia. I'm not sure what actions that apple can take to rectify this issue, perhaps they will provide a software update?

So really no one is safe, even if you have a password prior to it being hacked?

 

Like ebay? I think that using different passwords for all purposes is important.

 

Please be reminded that 2-step verification is available to a very limited number of countries only.

 

Death penalty for hackers.

 

It's still the sixth largest country in the world.

 

This article just reminded me to update all of my 2 step authentication details.

2 old phone numbers and various devices I no longer own linked to my account. Luckily I had my master key hand to do so.

All done!

 

it's alright, hackers are usually very negative people which will in turn affect their health they will die off soon enough.

 

There have been a few high profile data breaches of (non-apple) sites lately. Most likely that data has been used to do this. No update can fix that. Just change your passowords, use different passwords from different sites, and where possible dont give custom to companies who dont respect your personal data, like ebay.

 

Maybe it would be best if such idiots didn't have passwords like 'password123' then whine when someone hacks then. Honestly, I wish there was a fine for those idiots who choose stupid passwords and then find themselves hack - $1,000 fine would be a good incentive to stop people from being idiots.

 

I am afraid that they will have access to all the passwords saved in iCloud Keychain.
My country doesn't have 2-step verification #.

 

I think these schmucks should be aquatinted with some of Australia's indigenous fauna as punishment.

Not really: NA is 24.3 million square kilometers, whereas Australia is only 7.6 million square kilometers. Now if you meant the continental US, then yes, it is pretty close (e.g. 7.7 million square kilometers (if you only count land)).

 

There should also be a fine for presumptuous posts made by idiots who think they're somehow superior to people they know nothing about.

 

So glad I never use iCloud.

 

Checks out on Wikipedia by area as roughly: USA - Alaska = Australia

 

Yea, I implied continental US.

 

I'd be more freaked out if this was happening in multiple countries. It just being in Australia suggests that the security breach is localized and the victims probably had redundant logins and passwords. We'll see, hopefully. I'm glad I ponied up for 1 Password recently. It's kind of a hassle on iOS but it's worth it.

 

Belgium has no Apple Store and apparentely also no 2-step verification. Come on...