Apple is under seige from hackers and may have to save its iPhones. A hacking operative has demanded the company give in to its demands, else they will wipe out iCloud accounts remotely.
The hackers call themselves Turkish Crime Family and have demanded a ransom of $75,000 in crypto-currency Ethereum or bitcoin. Providing Apple with an alternative way, the hackers have also mentioned that gift cards of iTunes worth $100,000 will also suffice.
However, if the hackers' demands are not met with, they will remove a large number of iCloud accounts along with other e-mail accounts of iPhone users.
"I just want my money and thought this would be an interesting report that a lot of Apple customers would be interested in reading and hearing," said one of the hackers to Motherboard.
Conversation Between Apple And The Hackers
Screenshots of the so-called e-mails that have been exchanged between Apple's security team and the hackers have been provided to online publication Motherboard.
In one of the e-mails, it was seen that an unknown member of Apple's security team asked the hackers if they are "willing to share a sample of the data set."
The surprising fact is that the hackers have reached out to the media to share this information and their ransom demands. The hackers have also uploaded a YouTube video in which they show a few accounts they have hacked remotely.
A New Threat
On the basis of one of the e-mails, the hackers said that they have access to more than 300 million e-mail accounts of Apple including the one of @me and @icloud domains. However, the lack of consistency has been spotted in the story of the hackers as one of their leaders claimed they had access to 559 million accounts instead of 300 million.
Irrespective, the hackers have given an ultimatum to Apple. They took to Twitter to announce that they will factory reset 200 million iCloud accounts if their demands are not met within April 7.
200 Million iCloud accounts will be factory reset on April 7 2017
— Turkish Crime Family (@turkcrimefamily) March 21, 2017
In one of the e-mails, an Apple security member requested the hackers to remove the YouTube video as it was seeking unwanted attention. The official also stated that the company does not reward criminals for breaking the law.
Apple is mum on the matter and is yet to acknowledge the hackers' assertions. It remains to be seen if the company will give in to the pressure and pay the ransom.
Photo: Katy Levinson | Flickr
