Apple Account Information Stolen by iPhone hackers
Part-A
The uses of the internet has been increased immensely in the last few years. It has become the major source of information for the people of the whole world (Modi, Wiles & Mishra, 2015). It is a very important tool for information. But, with the increase in use of the internet the hacking of data and the rate of security breaches have increased. The hackers now have multiple points to get access into the systems. In addition to this the security concerns have been increasing with the time.
An incident of a security breach in the year 2015 has been provided in the report. In addition to these there are a few remedies for the incidents have been provided in the report.
According to the article by the identityforce.com, it was reported that more than 225,000 users had their account information hacked (“September 2015 iPhone Hack”, 2017). On October 2, 2015 the identityforce.com released the article “Apple Account Information Stolen by iPhone hackers”. In the article it was mentioned that the iPhone users had their account hacked. It was discovered that is was done by using a malware named KeyRaider (Gall, 2013). The attackers mainly targeted the users that were using the phones that were jail broken. It has been found that the KeyRaider app was generally used in China but it was reported that the users in USA were also affected by the hackers. Jail breaking is a technique that allows the users to customize their phone according to their wish. It is similar to rooting process in an android device. This enables the user to select their choice of celluar network. Although, using this technique would void the warranty provided by Apple (Hennessy et al., 2017). Hence, the user can be easily subjected to hacking. This is because the company cannot track the device once it is jail broken. In addition to this the company cannot prohibit the customers who use the jail broken devices. In addition to China and USA, users from 18 other countries were affected by this incident. In addition to this the information that were stolen were made public by the hacker. All the information that the users had provided to the apple.
The KeyRaider obtains the sensitive information from the iPhone by tracking the person’s apple id. If the apple id is obtained other sensitive information such as the IPhone unique id, the password can easily be obtained (loveva et al., 2014). The KeyRaider obtains these information and sends it to the hacker. When the hacker attacks the device the owner would not be able to understand the attack. In addition to this when the, attack is completed, the user would be unable to use the device. In addition to this, it has been reported that, some of the people have got their devices locked. They hackers try and lock the device and only open the access when their demanded ransom is paid. Additionally, the hackers not only did steal the information and access to the devices for their personal use but also the hackers are trying to release the information in front of everyone. The hackers have created applications that could be used by anyone to hack into the device of any iPhone user. This would enable users to steal information of other users and purchase contents from the iTunes using the hacked accounts (Dubey et al., 2014). This would result in the users facing financial theft directly or indirectly.
Remedies
In addition to all these, it was also been reported in some parts of the world the users can be subjected to potential threats even if their device is not jail broken. For, the solution of the issue, it is advisable to the user that they stop using their jail broken devices. They should only use the devices that are authenticated by the company. In addition to the users should not provide information that are very sensitive in their accounts. They should try and restrict themselves from interfering with the internal systems of the devices. In addition, to this the users should also be fully updated with their devices. They should install each and every updates into their devices so the performance of the device improves. With each and every update the company releases the security features gets enhanced. In addition to this, the users must also restrict themselves from trying to access the black markets for obtaining the applications for free. In addition to all these the Apple Company should also try and improve their data security measures. They should also try and reduce the prices of their paid applications so that the users are not influenced by anyone into obtaining them for free or with a reduced cost.
Conclusion
For conclusion it can be said that, the iPhone users are facing a serious predicament of their data being stolen. The report describes about how and why the situation arises. And in addition to this the report also provides some remedies for tackling the situation. An overall conclusion can be obtained that, the users should be more conscious about the use of the device and should not try and use the jail broken devices.
The hacking techniques have evolved immensely in the past few years. As a result this has encouraged the hackers to practice this technique more often. But lately the techniques are being used for illegal and unethical purposes (Anitha & Balakrishna, 2015). This has raised concerns the minds of the people.
The report contains one such incidents that have come up in the past few years. A brief details of the three mobile cyber hack case have been provided in the report. The main causes of the hack, the process of the hack and the remedies that could have been adopted to stop the attack have been provided in report.
According to the Telegraph.com, it has been reported that, data of about six million customers of the company were hacked from the company database (Steven Swinford, & McGoogan, 2017). In the article, “Three Mobile cyber hack: six million customers’ private information at risk after employee login used to access database.” Released by the telegraph.com on November 17, 2016 it has been reported that, the hacker had got access of the company databases and had procured information of about three million customers of the company. It was done by using an employee login.
Part-B
Three Mobile Company is one of the biggest mobile phone companies of Britain. It reported the data breach of its company on 2016. The company had admitted that the hacker got access to their customer upgrade database by using the login credentials of an employee of the company (Truong et al., 2014). It was reported that the company had 9 million customers and two thirds of the customer’s data would be at risk. It was reported that the data that was accessed include the names of the customers, their phone numbers, addresses, date of birth. Although the company has informed that of financial data of the customers were leaked.
The main stakeholders of the company that were affected were the customers of the company (Rahman, 2013). More than half of the total number of customers of the company were affected by this issue. The hackers that hacked into the system got all detailed personal information about the customers. In addition to the names of the customers, they also got access to the addresses of the customers and also to the phone numbers of the customers. Hence, a large number of customers could at risk of getting their identities exposed in front of the whole world. In addition to this, the privacy of the customers would also be hampered. The Customer’s detailed identity could be used to frame them for some illegal practices. I addition to this the reputation of the company was also degraded due to this event. The customer would be afraid that, they would face the same kind of consequences if they made any purchases from the company.
It has been reported that the hackers got hold login credentials of three of the employees of the company. The hackers had then procured the information about the company and its customers from the databases that they got access to (Lewis & Usher, 2014). They then used the information to trick the company. They tricked the company into sending the end devices to the certain addresses of the customers where they could easily intercept the products. They implicated the instances of the customers. Hence, the procedure was very easy for them.
It has been reported the police has caught hold of three suspects. In addition to this, the police has also got hold of the three employees whose accounts were hacked. They have subjected to interrogations by the police. A 48 year old man from Kent was arrested and 39 year old man from Manchester were arrested by the police. In addition to this, a third man of 35 years from Manchester was also arrested for interfering the course of justice. In addition to this, these types of security breach could have been avoided by the company had they been more aware of the security issues that they could be facing due to the hackers breaching their security. Additionally, the company should also have proper security measure in place so that the login credentials of their employees are protected efficiently. In addition to this the company must make sure that, the employees do not share their login information with anyone and should adopt some policies for this. The company should also have a proper filtration procedure in place for the employees that the recruit and it is to be seen that the filtration procedure is followed accordingly. Adoption these measures could have prevent the security breach from taking place and would also prohibit the hackers from conducting these type of breaches in future.
Conclusion
For conclusion it can be said that, the information about security breach of the three mobile company and its consequence have been clearly mentioned in the report. The facts about the breach have been provided in the report and in addition to this some remedies for prevention of this kind of breaches have also been provided. It is very essential for the company to adopt these remedies to prevent these type of breaches in the future. These policies should also be adopted by the companies that are similar to this.
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