A 16-Year-Old Hacked Apple Servers And Stored Data In Folder Named ‘hacky hack hack’

Authored by fossbytes.com and submitted by SuperCharged2000
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Apple’s tall claims of keeping your data secured were challenged by an Australian teenager when he repeatedly hacked Apple servers and downloaded 90 GB of ‘secure files.’

As reported by The Age, the teenager hacked Apple’s mainframe computer multiple times from his home, simply because “he was a fan of the iPhone maker company” and dreamed of working for Apple.

He got the access to “authorized keys” that could grant access to user accounts to anybody and are considered extremely secure. Apple soon identified the hacks and reported the case to the FBI and Australian Federal Police.

After the raid at his home, the legal authorities found the software that was used for hacking installed on his laptop.

“Two Apple laptops were seized, and the serial numbers matched the serial numbers of the devices which accessed the internal systems,” said a prosecutor.

Not only the culprit downloaded secured files but also accessed several customer accounts. Interestingly, the boy holds an impressive image in the world of hacking.

The story became more interesting when it was found that he saved all the instructions for hacking and the hacked data in a folder named “hacky hack hack.”

The hacker in question has pleaded guilty in the court, and the magistrate has decided to announce the sentence by next week because of the complexities involved in the case.

voodooattack on August 17th, 2018 at 18:19 UTC »

Copying my earlier child comment here for clarity:

The so called “genius teen hacker” didn’t hack Apple. He was compromising iCloud accounts. So yeah, key-loggers and typical script kiddie shenanigans used to trick gullible end users and obtain their credentials.

Here’s a professional, fact-checked article that’s not doing shady shit or inciting a flame-war just to get more views: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/aug/17/melbourne-teen-pleads-guilty-to-hacking-into-apple-network

The Age said customer data had been accessed, and that the boy managed to obtain customers’ authorised keys – their login access.

So, passwords?

If anything. I’d commend Apple for protecting their customers’ data. They’re not obligated to protect people against the ramifications of their own negligence and/or gullibility.

Edit: To those saying that he stole actual SSH keys:

“Two Apple laptops were seized, and the serial numbers matched the serial numbers of the devices which accessed the internal systems,” said a prosecutor.

SSH does not pass along device serial numbers to the server. The only way Apple would have this information is if our esteemed hacker tried to login to iCloud using compromised credentials using his own devices.

Edit 2: I just went back to the sourced article (from the Australian newspaper) to check the facts, and it seems to imply that he did in fact access internal data. It’s possible he gained access to the personal accounts of Apple employee(s) that granted him elevated permissions, but the article is not too forthcoming with details. All of this remains pure conjecture until we know more and/or Apple discloses such details.

foxsable on August 17th, 2018 at 17:45 UTC »

Was this article edited, fact checked, peer reviewed or anything? I mean did they at least spell check it?

GunsKnivesRadios on August 17th, 2018 at 15:57 UTC »

Article says the kid hacked a mainframe. Since Apple doesn't make a mainframe, I'm assuming it must have been a Gibson.