Hackers trying to bribe Apple workers into handing over login information, report says

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Hackers are trying to bribe workers at Apple's Irish offices with thousands of euros, hoping to gain access to sensitive company login information, according to several people within the company.




"I could sell my Apple ID login information online for ?20,000 [$23,000]," one source noted to Business Insider. While the same person claimed that the hackers are emailing people at "random," another source said that they're specifically hunting for people who've "jumped diagonally" into a junior management position, and therefore aren't committed "lifers" resistant to outside offers.

To counteract the bribes the company has reportedly launched an initiative called "Grow Your Own," but further details about it are unknown.

Likewise uncertain is exactly what the hackers are after, but they could be looking to steal product information or business strategies. Apple's Irish workforce is unlikely to have access to the most sensitive content, however, which is presumably reserved for high-level designers, engineers, and executives at Apple's main headquarters in Cupertino.

Apple's Irish facilities are generally dedicated to the more mundane aspects of its business, though they are home to the company's only fully-owned factory, which assembles iMacs. The company also funnels much of its international revenue through the country in an attempt to reduce taxes.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 28
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    I'd like to bribe Tim into opening a store in this country
    cnocbuiSpamSandwich[Deleted User]magman1979jimdreamworxjustadcomicscornchip
  • Reply 2 of 28
    ireland said:
    I'd like to bribe Tim into opening a store in this country
    And being Irish I take it you would not be talking small potatoes!
    SpamSandwich[Deleted User]magman1979lostkiwidasanman69jimdreamworxjustadcomics
  • Reply 3 of 28
    Hackers? More like EU officials trying to dig up dirt. 
    SpamSandwichslprescottjimdreamworxjbdragoncornchipmaxit
  • Reply 4 of 28
    cnocbuicnocbui Posts: 3,613member
    Hackers? More like EU officials trying to dig up dirt. 
    BS. It would be the Chinese.
  • Reply 5 of 28
    The names, phone numbers and/or IP addresses of every named hacker should be posted. Why tiptoe around this any longer? Name them and shame them!
    calijustadcomicsjbdragon
  • Reply 6 of 28
    The names, phone numbers and/or IP addresses of every named hacker should be posted. Why tiptoe around this any longer? Name them and shame them!
    Because most likely they've used aliases
    afrodrimaxit
  • Reply 7 of 28
    linkmanlinkman Posts: 1,035member
    Yet another reason why backdoors for encryption are bad...
    SpamSandwichcalipatchythepiratebrian greenjimdreamworxcornchipAustinCablemaxit
  • Reply 8 of 28
    freerangefreerange Posts: 1,597member
    The names, phone numbers and/or IP addresses of every named hacker should be posted. Why tiptoe around this any longer? Name them and shame them!
    Better - set up a sting, arrest them, lock them up and throw away the key. Untitled l these people are aggressively pursued and prosecuted nothing will change. 
    jbdragon
  • Reply 9 of 28
    freerange said:
    The names, phone numbers and/or IP addresses of every named hacker should be posted. Why tiptoe around this any longer? Name them and shame them!
    Better - set up a sting, arrest them, lock them up and throw away the key. Untitled l these people are aggressively pursued and prosecuted nothing will change. 
    As long as there are incentives, there will be people willing to take great risks for the rewards. 

    This is probably an excellent reason ALL Apple logins and passwords should be replaced with either Touch ID or the combination of Touch ID and a password, so no one, not even Apple could access user data.
    brian greenpalominejustadcomics
  • Reply 10 of 28
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    freerange said:
    Better - set up a sting, arrest them, lock them up and throw away the key. Untitled l these people are aggressively pursued and prosecuted nothing will change. 
    As long as there are incentives, there will be people willing to take great risks for the rewards. 

    This is probably an excellent reason ALL Apple logins and passwords should be replaced with either Touch ID or the combination of Touch ID and a password, so no one, not even Apple could access user data.
    You're right it's like the drug game. freerange is also correct but that'll only repel the small timers.

    And I thought by 2015 everything on Apple devices would be TouchID compatible. Seemed logical even way back when it anounced.
    edited February 2016 brian greenpalomine
  • Reply 11 of 28
    I'm guessing they are hoping that credentials will give them enough access to the network to try and find the where the money is and how to access it.
  • Reply 12 of 28
    misamisa Posts: 827member
    cali said:
    As long as there are incentives, there will be people willing to take great risks for the rewards. 

    This is probably an excellent reason ALL Apple logins and passwords should be replaced with either Touch ID or the combination of Touch ID and a password, so no one, not even Apple could access user data.
    You're right it's like the drug game. freerange is also correct but that'll only repel the small timers.

    And I thought by 2015 everything on Apple devices would be TouchID compatible. Seemed logical even way back when it anounced.
    Desktops do not yet have TouchID, and Windows devices do not have TouchID either. An all-in-one computer like the iMac and MacBook can have these things, but so far do not. 

    On the Windows side of things, things are compounded further as only a password can be used as there's no way of having TouchID on any machine as an external thing, since it defeats the secure element.

    Like I expect sometime soon that TouchID type of sensors will be part of computer monitors and be transmitted over the HDCP handshake as an alternative to logging in with a password or "cloud password" 

    Personally I think logging in with your apple or microsoft login into your PC/Mac is putting way too much faith in Apple or Microsoft and internet connectivity reliability.



    edited February 2016 afrodricornchip
  • Reply 13 of 28
    ireland said:
    I'd like to bribe Tim into opening a store in this country
    Where can I send my contribution?

    (would it be very, very cheeky of us to ask for a few of them, in Cork, Galway, Dublin and Letterkenny?)
  • Reply 14 of 28
    mr. memr. me Posts: 3,221member
    freerange said:
    Better - set up a sting, arrest them, lock them up and throw away the key. Untitled l these people are aggressively pursued and prosecuted nothing will change. 
    As long as there are incentives, there will be people willing to take great risks for the rewards. 

    This is probably an excellent reason ALL Apple logins and passwords should be replaced with either Touch ID or the combination of Touch ID and a password, so no one, not even Apple could access user data.
    I'm not so sure. On your iOS device with Touch ID enabled, you must reenter your passcode every 48 hours. From this I infer that Touch ID is a convenience, but that passcodes provide superior security.
    lollivercornchip
  • Reply 15 of 28
    volcanvolcan Posts: 1,799member
    mr. me said:

    I'm not so sure. On your iOS device with Touch ID enabled, you must reenter your passcode every 48 hours. From this I infer that Touch ID is a convenience, but that passcodes provide superior security.
    Really? I seem to get a lot of annoying Apple ID verifications requests but I don't recall having to enter my device passcode except after a restart.
  • Reply 16 of 28
    mr. me said:
    As long as there are incentives, there will be people willing to take great risks for the rewards. 

    This is probably an excellent reason ALL Apple logins and passwords should be replaced with either Touch ID or the combination of Touch ID and a password, so no one, not even Apple could access user data.
    I'm not so sure. On your iOS device with Touch ID enabled, you must reenter your passcode every 48 hours. From this I infer that Touch ID is a convenience, but that passcodes provide superior security.

    I think it's more of a softened 2-step verification. The two together provide superior security.
  • Reply 17 of 28
    jfc1138jfc1138 Posts: 3,090member
    mr. me said:
    As long as there are incentives, there will be people willing to take great risks for the rewards. 

    This is probably an excellent reason ALL Apple logins and passwords should be replaced with either Touch ID or the combination of Touch ID and a password, so no one, not even Apple could access user data.
    I'm not so sure. On your iOS device with Touch ID enabled, you must reenter your passcode every 48 hours. From this I infer that Touch ID is a convenience, but that passcodes provide superior security.
    "48 hours"? I don't/haven't on any of my iOS devices: I only am required to re-enter the passcode when I've powered down the device and restarted it or after a system update. Neither of which happens every 48 hours. And I'm skeptical of passcode superior security as they can be socially hacked (your birthday? Really?), stolen or merely observed and copied: none of which applies to a Touch ID.
    edited February 2016
  • Reply 18 of 28
    kent909kent909 Posts: 731member
    freerange said:
    Better - set up a sting, arrest them, lock them up and throw away the key. Untitled l these people are aggressively pursued and prosecuted nothing will change. 
    As long as there are incentives, there will be people willing to take great risks for the rewards. 

    This is probably an excellent reason ALL Apple logins and passwords should be replaced with either Touch ID or the combination of Touch ID and a password, so no one, not even Apple could access user data.
    Excellent plan to sell iPhones. Anyone with less than a 5s will have to get a new phone.
  • Reply 19 of 28
    Surely there must be easier ways for Samsung to find the "next big thing."  ;)
    pscooter63cornchipmaxit
  • Reply 20 of 28
    jfc1138 said:
    mr. me said:
    I'm not so sure. On your iOS device with Touch ID enabled, you must reenter your passcode every 48 hours. From this I infer that Touch ID is a convenience, but that passcodes provide superior security.
    "48 hours"? I don't/haven't on any of my iOS devices: I only am required to re-enter the passcode when I've powered down the device and restarted it or after a system update. Neither of which happens every 48 hours. And I'm skeptical of passcode superior security as they can be socially hacked (your birthday? Really?), stolen or merely observed and copied: none of which applies to a Touch ID.
    It's true:

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201371

    jbdragoncornchip
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