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Apple Says No Personal Data Was Compromised in Australian Teenager Hacking Incident

Friday August 17, 2018 7:02 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
In a statement, Apple has confirmed that no personal data was compromised by a 16-year-old student from Melbourne, Australia who admitted to hacking into Apple's internal servers on multiple occasions over one year.

The Guardian:
At Apple, we vigilantly protect our networks and have dedicated teams of information security professionals that work to detect and respond to threats.

In this case, our teams discovered the unauthorized access, contained it, and reported the incident to law enforcement. We regard the data security of our users as one of our greatest responsibilities and want to assure our customers that at no point during this incident was their personal data compromised.
Australian publication The Age reported that the teen downloaded some 90GB of confidential files, and accessed customer accounts, storing information in a folder on his computer named "hacky hack hack." It's unclear exactly what he downloaded during the series of network intrusions.

The student, who cannot be publicly named due to his age and notoriety in the hacking community, reportedly pleaded guilty to his actions in an Australian Children's Court this week, with sentencing deferred until next month. His lawyer later told police that the teen "dreamed of" working for Apple.

The teen reportedly had a method of accessing Apple's servers that "worked flawlessly" on multiple occasions—until he was caught.

The international investigation began when Apple detected the unauthorized access, contained it, and alerted the FBI. The allegations were passed on to the Australian Federal Police, which executed a search warrant on the teen's home last year, and found the software that had enabled the hacking on his laptop.

Tag: Apple security
[ 245 comments ]


Top Rated Comments

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M.PaulCezanne
13 weeks ago
Just Apple security’s pride was compromised. Ya know, because they were hacked by a child.
Rating: 29 Votes
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Heineken
13 weeks ago
So what was in those 90 GB?
Rating: 26 Votes
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RightMACatU
13 weeks ago

Sounds like this kid is a bit of genius, maybe he should be given a job at Apple instead of a prison sentence. Just saying


Sure! and people who steal cars and houses should be hired by insurance companies.
Rating: 19 Votes
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alpi123
13 weeks ago
People be telling "Give this kid a job at Apple" - no, this isn't Google, or Facebook or whatever. Apple is very strict and won't risk employing this kid just because he has great hacking abilities. If he was an ethical hacker, he could have maybe contacted Apple telling them about how he dug into their security and not try to take away the users' data.
Rating: 15 Votes
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nfl46
13 weeks ago
Give the child a job for Apple when he gets out of jail, lol.
Rating: 13 Votes
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supercoolmanchu
13 weeks ago
Yep. I totally called this yesterday in the original thread comments.

Let this be a lesson to you foolish humans about press hyperbole.
[doublepost=1534514522][/doublepost]

90 GB is a LOT of data.


He got 90GB of files from Apple, how is that a failed hack?


90GB of what?

Old software installer images?
Employee bathroom procedures?

Just because someone robs a bank, doesn’t mean they actually got any money. One of the more common items stolen from banks are ballpoint pens.

But hyperbole gunna hype.
Rating: 13 Votes
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iLoveDeveloping
13 weeks ago
Sounds like this kid is a bit of genius, maybe he should be given a job at Apple instead of a prison sentence. Just saying
Rating: 11 Votes
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XzavierMonroe
13 weeks ago
How can someone Still hack Apple with their "encrypted" software.Makes you wonder how vulnerable Our data is to the hands of anyone that can hack...how can a Trillion $$ Dollar company be so exposed.
Rating: 10 Votes
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flyinmac
13 weeks ago

So what was in those 90 GB?


Tim’s dating list (Black Book)

Apple’s upcoming Mac Pro specs featuring Intel 8086 CPU’s.

Ive’s memo suggesting 1mm thick iMacs (thermal issues be d@mned).

Stolen schematics for Fred Flinstones bedrock cruiser (family sedan).

Files documenting the construction of the spacecraft to return Tim to his home planet (cleverly disguised as an Apple campus).

50,000 internal memos complaining that the espresso machine is busted again.

And the porn collection that has thus far kept Apple’s engineers too busy to complete the new Mac Mini and Mac Pro.
Rating: 10 Votes
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Wanted797
13 weeks ago

Sounds like this kid is a bit of genius, maybe he should be given a job at Apple instead of a prison sentence. Just saying


Sort of a bad incentive to set.
Rating: 9 Votes

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