Teen hacks Apple systems and makes off with 90GB of data

[Cal Jeffrey]

Facepalm: Apple's system admins must have been resting on their laurels to allow data to be stolen from their breached systems for more than a year. The incident must have been all the more embarrassing when they found out that it was a 16-year-old kid that pwned their protocols.

A teen in Melbourne, Australia has hacked secure servers at Apple Inc not once, but numerous times over the course of a year. The company’s systems are thought by some to be unbreachable, but the 16-year-old proved nothing is impossible.

The boy, whose name is being withheld, secured access to Apple’s mainframe on multiple occasions over a period of about a year, reports Australian news outlet The Age. In the process, he stole approximately 90GB of data and was even able to access customer records.

When Apple finally noticed the breach, it contacted the FBI, which turned the case over to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) when it discovered the origin of the attacks. The AFP exercised a search warrant on the boy’s residence and seized two Apple laptops, a mobile phone, and a hard drive. An analysis found the absconded data in a folder called “hacky hack hack” along with the tools he used to access the systems.

"The teen broke into Apple’s mainframe from his suburban home on multiple occasions over a year because he was such a fan of the company."

At Apple’s request, authorities did not go into detail regarding the methods the teen used to break into the secure servers. It does, however, appear that he used VPN tunnels to mask his identity. According to investigators, his methods "worked flawlessly" until Apple noticed.

The teen was arrested last year and pleaded guilty in a juvenile court. His attorney said his client's admiration of the company is what motivated his actions. He is said to have “dreamed of” working for Apple.

The judge on the case has postponed sentencing until next month due to the complex nature of the matter. In the meantime, Apple may soon be looking for a new systems administrator. Perhaps the kid should apply?

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/76014-teen-hacks-apple-systems-makes-off-90gb-data.html

 

[dogofwars]

Often they hire people like him so he did it in the right time, no big punishment and great reward later.

 

[davislane1]

The company’s systems are thought by some to be unbreachable, but the 16-year-old proved nothing is impossible.

There exists nothing on this planet that is unbreachable. $20 says all the people who thought Apple was the exception were part of the cyber security team that got caught napping.

 

[dogofwars]

Now even air gap system are not even immunized against that because of human curiosity/stupidity. Also the all mighty fax that we thought was so low tech was secured against such problem is not. The virus using a computer wit a fax/modem and simply call another device like a fax and transmits the virus there and then into the targeted network.

 

[netman]

"The judge on the case has postponed sentencing until next month due to the complex nature of the matter. In the meantime, Apple may soon be looking for a new systems administrator. Perhaps the kid should apply?"

The first sentence is nonsense! The case is not complex! The second sentence is most likely true. The third sentence is definitely true, however the kid is not applying for the job rather it is the Apple that is applying for the kid....and that is the reason for the kid's sentence postponement!

 

[VitalyT]

This is utterly stupid to even suggest that a good hacker can make a good systems administrator. It is like suggesting that a good criminal can make a good lawyer.

The skills and the interest/motivation are two very different things.

 

[Uncle Al]

LOL ..... I'm sure that teen will be getting a nice job offer from the Israelis in the not too distant future .....