iPhoneDevSDK Details What Led to Apple, Facebook Hacking

In January, a number of Apple employees had their Macs compromised following visits to the popular iPhoneDevSDK forum. Employees from Facebook and likely dozens of other companies were compromised as well. In a blog post today, site owner Ian Sefferman shared some limited details* about what happened and what the site is doing about it.

Most notably, the attack was reportedly ended by the hacker on January 30, 2013, meaning the site believes that there is no ongoing threat.

Iphonedevsdk

What we've learned is that it appears a single administrator account was compromised. The hackers used this account to modify our theme and inject JavaScript into our site. That JavaScript appears to have used a sophisticated, previously unknown exploit to hack into certain user's computers.

We're still trying to determine the exploit's exact timeline and details, but it appears as though it was ended (by the hacker) on January 30, 2013.

As with Facebook, it's important to stress that we have no reason to believe user data was compromised.

Eric Romang has done some additional detective work on the the attack, laying much of the blame on Java itself. Last month, Apple twice blocked Java 7 from working on users' Macs, perhaps after the company discovered that its own machines had been compromised.

* URL to blog post: http://iphonedevsdk.com/forum/site-news-announcements/111889-iphonedevsdk-compromised-what-happened-and-how-we-are-dealing-with-it.html -- We've avoiding linking it due to the recent hack at that site.

Popular Stories

streaming black friday 2025

Black Friday Streaming Deals Include Big Savings on Disney+, Hulu, Apple TV, and More

Monday November 24, 2025 8:03 am PST by
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Adds These New Features to Your iPhone

Thursday November 20, 2025 10:50 am PST by
iOS 26.2 is currently in beta testing. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics for Apple Music, and more. In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date. Keep reading...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

iOS 27 Will Reportedly Have Two Key Upgrades

Sunday November 23, 2025 8:48 am PST by
iOS 27 will reportedly have two major elements: quality improvements and new AI features. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that iOS 27 will be similar to Mac OS X Snow Leopard, in the sense that Apple is focused on improving "quality and underlying performance" over adding new features. Gurman said there is one exception to this rule, though, as he expects...
maxresdefault

The MacRumors Show: iPhone 18 Pro Looks Like a Huge Upgrade

Friday November 21, 2025 9:10 am PST by
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we talk through all of the new features and improvements expected to come to next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max models. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos Apple's next-generation iPhones are less than ten months away and we already have a good idea about what to expect based on corroborated leaks, rumors,...
General Black Friday Deals 25 Red

Apple Black Friday Deals Available Now on AirPods, iPads, Accessories, and More

Friday November 21, 2025 8:48 am PST by
We're only a few days away from Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
Apple Shopping Event 2025

Apple Announces 2025 Black Friday Event, Here's What You Can Get

Thursday November 20, 2025 6:28 am PST by
Apple's annual four-day Black Friday through Cyber Monday shopping event is returning on Friday, November 28 through Monday, December 1 in many countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Thailand, and others. During the shopping event, customers can get an Apple gift card with...
hikawa phone grip stand apple%402x

Apple Launches Second Limited-Edition iPhone Accessory in a Month

Friday November 21, 2025 3:53 am PST by
Apple has begun selling the Hikawa Phone Grip and Stand, a new limited-edition iPhone accessory designed with accessibility in mind. Designed by LA-based Bailey Hikawa to celebrate the 40th anniversary of accessibility at Apple, the grip uses magnets to securely snap onto any iPhone with MagSafe. Apple says it can be removed with ease, and doubles as a stand with two different viewing...
apple news banner

Apple News Loses CNN

Monday November 24, 2025 7:56 am PST by
American multinational news company CNN has abruptly pulled its content from Apple News, Semafor reports. CNN quietly removed its stories from Apple News over the weekend and there is no longer a feed from the network to subscribe to in the app. This effectively ends its distribution agreement with Apple while the two sides negotiate new terms. Discussions are apparently ongoing and CNN's...

Top Rated Comments

newagemac Avatar
167 months ago
Is it Java or Javascript? Those are two entirely different things. Java is a plugin with security holes and can be disabled. Javascript is not Java in any way, shape, or form and is not a plugin. It is now as basic to the web as HTML and CSS. You shouldn't disable Javascript unless you want to break pretty much any modern website.

One of the dumbest things ever done on the web was giving it the name of "Javascript". Why the heck there hasn't been a movement to change the name puzzles me.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iGrip Avatar
167 months ago
Insecure?

So lots and lots of big giant companies were hacked. It was the fault of some third party.


But all we hear about is that Apple was hacked! Apple has lousy security! Anybody who owns any Apple anything is in SERIOUS DANGER! Run for the hills, but only after destroying all Apple products!

Typical. Apple is just the whipping boy of the mainstream media.

They go into a frenzy and let everybody else have a pass. But not Apple. They act like it is all Apple's fault. They pick on Apple. It is not FAIR! Apple is a scapegoat. Everybody who owns any Apple anything is seen as a lesser person because of this stuff. A complete and total idiot.

I for one am sick of it.

/s

----------

Well, I use Safari with Java disabled, AdBlock, and Click to Flash. I had been thinking of adding one of the NoScript extensions, but haven't gotten around to it yet. Unfortunately, I got suckered in by a Phishing attempt a few days ago (it's no longer safe to check your email before you're fully awake...) and am wondering what to do about it.

Change all of the affected passwords. Close any credit card accounts that were compromised. If you gave your SS number, there is nothing that can be done about that.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sean4000 Avatar
167 months ago
and THIS is why "noscript" is mandatory on all of my company's computers.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jlgolson Avatar
167 months ago
Is it Java or Javascript? Those are two entirely different things.
Apparently they used a JavaScript exploit to inject Java code. It's all a little unclear at the moment. Hopefully Facebook or (less likely) Apple will post a play-by-play going into exactly what happened at some point.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SeattleMoose Avatar
167 months ago
After all this java stuff, I went into Safari and disabled Java (not JavaScript) and guess what? Safari is INDEED snappier!!! (no joke...it really is).

And I agree with a previous poster, Apple is the media's favorite whipping boy right now. Wallstreet's lapdog, the media, is being used to manipulate AAPL stock prices via fear and gloom. When they have driven it down low enough...the sharks will buy-up AAPL yet again...run a bunch of positive articles (PUMP)...followed by yet another DUMP when it gets to their target "high" value. Then they'll place puts on AAPL, run more gloom and doom stories, and make money on the way down too. And then you have Einhorn, the hedge fund "humanitarian" who simply wants to raid the APPL cash pile for his elite clients. It has already been proven that AAPL stock volatility was tied directly to hedge fund manipulation. Expect more...unfortunately. Wallstreet is just a steaming pile.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PinoyAko Avatar
167 months ago
The Java update yesterday was magical and revolutionary. :apple:
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)