Last month, users in Australia woke up to an unexpected message on their Apple devices, saying it has been locked, and the user should pay a ransom if he/she wants to unlock it. A few thought iCloud may have been breached, but Apple denied those rumors.
Now, it seems the hackers involved in this illegal activity were detained in Russia. According to a new report from Sydney Morning Herald, the hackers behind the attacks on the iPhone have been detained by Russian authorities.
Russian authorities say they have detained two young hackers who are alleged to have hijacked Apple devices and digitally held them ransom for a sum of money before relinquishing control.
The hackers – aged 17 and 23 – were detained in the course of “operational activities” by the Russian Interior Ministry, Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said. They are both residents of the Southern Administrative District of Moscow and one has already been tried before, it said.
A Russian site MKRU report that iPhone hackers were caught on camera when they were withdrawing ransom money from an ATM. It was also revealed that hackers gained access to Apple IDs via phishing scams, and social engineering tactics. It was not just the Australian users, similar cases were reported in Russia — and a few in US — as well, which resulted in an investigation.
Users who were using a pass code on their device managed to get access access to their devices by entering the passcode, and resetting their iCloud password. However, those who didn’t had to do a complete OS install to solve this problem. Here’s one more reason why you should be using a passcode on your iOS device. Additionally, it’s also recommended to activate two-factor authentication since it adds an extra layer of protection. Stay safe.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald, MacRumors