By Daniel Bates | 14:12 GMT, 7 August 2012 | The Daily Mail
A leading tech writer has revealed how easy it was for his ‘entire digital life’ to be destroyed
in less than an hour - and how Apple security lapses mean it can happen to you.
Mat Honan, who writes for Wired, was hacked because Apple only requires basic security questions
in order to access your Apple ID.
From there the hackers were able to delete his Google and Gmail account, stop his iPhone from
working and take control of his Twitter page.
Along the way everything on his laptop, including every photo he had of his one-year-old daughter,
was wiped.
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=frm00002-71.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/frm00002-71.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
In a disturbing article on Wired.com, Honan reveals how he actually spoke to the hacker who carried
out the attack.
After telling him how he did it Honan was then able to repeat the same steps - and carry out his very
own mock hack.
In the story Honan writes that on August 3 he realised something was wrong when all of a sudden
his iPhone powered down.
When he tried to connect it to his computer he was asked for a four digit pin - which the hackers had
already put on the machine to stop him from accessing it.
During the hour-and-a-half long phone call with Applecare - during which they initially got his name
wrong and looked at the wrong account - the full story emerged.
Between 4.33pm and 5.12pm the hackers had gone from having no information to taking over his
whole digital life - and posting a message on his Twitter page claiming credit for doing it.
Honan writes: ‘It turns out, a billing address and the last four digits of a credit card number are the
only two pieces of information anyone needs to get into your iCloud account.
‘Once supplied, Apple will issue a temporary password, and that password grants access to iCloud.’
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=frm00003-56.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/frm00003-56.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
From there the hackers were able to access his other accounts as they were all linked to one another -
they went to his Gmail account and asked for the recovery password to be sent to his mac.com email,
which they already had access to.
Once they had access to his Gmail account, they were able to get control of his Twitter page too.
After accepting what had happened Honan set up a temporary Twitter account - and was shocked when
one of the hackers messaged him.
Identifying himself as Phobia, he explained how he hacked Honan just because he ‘liked his username’
and claimed that ‘you honestly can get into any email associated with Apple’.
A leading tech writer has revealed how easy it was for his ‘entire digital life’ to be destroyed
in less than an hour - and how Apple security lapses mean it can happen to you.
Mat Honan, who writes for Wired, was hacked because Apple only requires basic security questions
in order to access your Apple ID.
From there the hackers were able to delete his Google and Gmail account, stop his iPhone from
working and take control of his Twitter page.
Along the way everything on his laptop, including every photo he had of his one-year-old daughter,
was wiped.
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=frm00002-71.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/frm00002-71.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
In a disturbing article on Wired.com, Honan reveals how he actually spoke to the hacker who carried
out the attack.
After telling him how he did it Honan was then able to repeat the same steps - and carry out his very
own mock hack.
In the story Honan writes that on August 3 he realised something was wrong when all of a sudden
his iPhone powered down.
When he tried to connect it to his computer he was asked for a four digit pin - which the hackers had
already put on the machine to stop him from accessing it.
During the hour-and-a-half long phone call with Applecare - during which they initially got his name
wrong and looked at the wrong account - the full story emerged.
Between 4.33pm and 5.12pm the hackers had gone from having no information to taking over his
whole digital life - and posting a message on his Twitter page claiming credit for doing it.
Honan writes: ‘It turns out, a billing address and the last four digits of a credit card number are the
only two pieces of information anyone needs to get into your iCloud account.
‘Once supplied, Apple will issue a temporary password, and that password grants access to iCloud.’
<a href="http://s1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/?action=view&current=frm00003-56.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/jj559/365Wildfire/frm00003-56.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
From there the hackers were able to access his other accounts as they were all linked to one another -
they went to his Gmail account and asked for the recovery password to be sent to his mac.com email,
which they already had access to.
Once they had access to his Gmail account, they were able to get control of his Twitter page too.
After accepting what had happened Honan set up a temporary Twitter account - and was shocked when
one of the hackers messaged him.
Identifying himself as Phobia, he explained how he hacked Honan just because he ‘liked his username’
and claimed that ‘you honestly can get into any email associated with Apple’.
