iCloud spawns ransomware
Posted by: Timothy Weaver on 06/08/2014 10:51 AM
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A ransomware attack affected iCloud users in Australia and the U.S. recently.
How it worked: the hacker compromised the victim's iCloud account (social enginering, brute-force password, etc), s/he activated the "Find My iPhone" on his or her own device and logged in as the victim. The iPhone was then put into lost mode and the hacker then locked it with a PIN. At this point, iCloud found the supposedly lost phone, locked it with the PIN, and displayed the ransom message.
For the most part, it comes down to using strong passwords and when possible, use two-factor authentication.
How it worked: the hacker compromised the victim's iCloud account (social enginering, brute-force password, etc), s/he activated the "Find My iPhone" on his or her own device and logged in as the victim. The iPhone was then put into lost mode and the hacker then locked it with a PIN. At this point, iCloud found the supposedly lost phone, locked it with the PIN, and displayed the ransom message.
For the most part, it comes down to using strong passwords and when possible, use two-factor authentication.
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