Apple Developer Website Hacked: Developer Names, Addresses May Have Been Taken
/article-new/2013/07/developer.png?lossy "developer.png")
In an email to developers today, Apple revealed that its Developer Center website was breached by unknown hackers and was taken offline last Thursday as a precaution.
The company notes that sensitive personal information was "encrypted and cannot be accessed" but that Apple's engineers "could not rule out the possibility" that developer names, mailing addresses and email addresses may have been accessed.
Apple says it is overhauling its developer systems, updating software and rebuilding the entire developer database. There is no indication of when the site will be back up, other than the company saying it expects to have it up again soon.
Apple Developer Website Update
Last Thursday, an intruder attempted to secure personal information of our registered developers from our developer website. Sensitive personal information was encrypted and cannot be accessed, however, we have not been able to rule out the possibility that some developers’ names, mailing addresses, and/or email addresses may have been accessed. In the spirit of transparency, we want to inform you of the issue. We took the site down immediately on Thursday and have been working around the clock since then.
In order to prevent a security threat like this from happening again, we’re completely overhauling our developer systems, updating our server software, and rebuilding our entire database. We apologize for the significant inconvenience that our downtime has caused you and we expect to have the developer website up again soon.
Apple told Macworld that the breached server was not associated with any customer information and that all personal information is encrypted -- additionally, the attackers did not get access to any app code or to any servers where app information is stored.
Top Stories
A bug in the built-in Calculator app in iOS 11 is getting some major attention this week, despite the fact that it's been around since iOS 11 was in beta testing.
At issue is a calculator animation that causes some symbols to be ignored when calculations are entered in rapid succession. You can try it for yourself: Type 1+2+3 and then the equals sign into the Calculator app quickly.
Due to...
Apple has been involved in a long-running iPhone trademark dispute in Brazil, which was revived today by IGB Electronica, a Brazilian consumer electronics company that originally registered the "iPhone" name in 2000.
IGB Electronica fought a multi-year battle with Apple in an attempt to get exclusive rights to the "iPhone" trademark, but ultimately lost, and now the case has been brought to...
With the launch of Apple's iPhone 13 lineup believed to be just a few weeks away, we have compiled all of the coherent rumors from our coverage over the past year to build a full picture of the features and upgrades coming to the company's new smartphones.
For clarity, only explicit improvements, upgrades, and new features compared to the iPhone 12 lineup are listed. It is worth noting that...
To commemorate the tenth anniversary of the iPhone, Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller sat down with tech journalist Steven Levy for a wide-ranging interview about the smartphone's past, present, and future.
The report first reflects upon the iPhone's lack of support for third-party apps in its first year. The argument inside Apple was split between whether the iPhone should be a closed...
The iPhone 13 will feature low earth orbit (LEO) satellite communication connectivity to allow users to make calls and send messages in areas without 4G or 5G coverage, according to the reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
In a note to investors, seen by MacRumors, Kuo explained that the iPhone 13 lineup will feature hardware that is able to connect to LEO satellites. If enabled with the relevant...
New MacBook Pro models are coming at WWDC, according to leaker Jon Prosser who has a mixed track record when it comes to predicting Apple's plans.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Prosser provided no additional information, but there are new 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro models in the works. The new MacBook Pros will feature the most radical redesign to the MacBook Pro ...
A normal-looking Lightning cable that can used to steal data like passwords and send it to a hacker has been developed, Vice reports.
The "OMG Cable" compared to Apple's Lightning to USB cable. The "OMG Cable" works exactly like a normal Lightning to USB cable and can log keystrokes from connected Mac keyboards, iPads, and iPhones, and then send this data to a bad actor who could be over a...
The iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro arrived last October in a range of color options, with entirely new hues available on both devices, as well as some popular classics. The 12 and 12 Pro have different color choices, so if you have your heart set on a particular shade, you might not be able to get your preferred model in that color.
iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12
The iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12...
The finish line is in sight! Apple's annual iPhone event is likely just a week or so away and all eyes will be on the company as it unveils the next version of its most popular product line. With any luck, we'll also see the next-generation Apple Watch and perhaps even some new AirPods.
Other news this week saw Apple making some more changes to its App Store policies in response to a...
The upcoming 14-inch MacBook Pro is set to be more expensive than the current 13-inch MacBook Pro and both the 14 and 16-inch models will offer the same performance, according to the leaker known as "Dylandkt."
The leaker shared the information on Twitter, explaining that both of the upcoming MacBook Pro models, expected to come in 14 and 16-inch sizes, will feature the same performance due...
Top Rated Comments
Of the Apple hacking, which didn't really affect much, and is actively being resolved:
Of the Android master key exploit which exposes 900 million phones to malware/viruses and more, and has no chance of ever being resolved:
Facebook has been hacked, Twitter has been hacked, Sony has been hacked, Zendesk has been hacked, Microsoft has been hacked, Ubuntu has been hacked, numerous government websites have been hacked etc. etc.
It's simply next to impossible these days to guarantee security in the millions of lines of code that constitute modern Operating Systems and the dozens of processes that run on them. Someone will find a vulnerability sooner or later and exploit it. The only thing you can do is make it as hard as possible for them, and store your data in as safe a manner as possible with strong encryption (and hashing for passwords).
This was going to happen sooner or later, and while it looks bad for Apple, it's a fact of life that there are people out there for whom hacking is their job and how they earn their money. The only way to secure your data from hacking, is not to put it on the internet. End of story.
this will hit news stations like a frenzy, android users are gonna gloat
Fixed point in time it cant be changed! ITS ALL JUST WIBBLY WOBBLY TIMEY WIMEY
If you knew of ways to get past one of the defences, you would of course fix it. Somebody got in, which means they used a method that wasn't anticipated and couldn't have been fixed. Because of "security in depth", that breach didn't gain the attacker anything, but now Apple knows what they did and makes the necessary changes. It is quite possible that Apple's security developers have from time to time found possible attacks and quietly fixed them; you wouldn't notice it.
----------
That's of course nonsense, and you know that. And if it was true, you wouldn't go after the NSA. You go after someone who can't lock you away for the rest of your sad life without a court case.
Nonsense. There's security in depth in place. Someone got past one defense, was promptly detected, and other defenses stopped him. Exactly how it is supposed to work. Public trust is also based on how a company handles problems: Apple handled it by immediately shutting down the site, which is inconvenient, but the absolutely safe thing to do, and they promptly informed the affected people about what was going on. Others companies would have kept the site running, hoping that nothing else happens. That's the companies you can't trust.