“…our own policies were not followed…”; Apple and Amazon Hacks August 8, 2012
Posted by Chris Mark in Data Breach, InfoSec & Privacy.Tags: Amazon, Apple, authentication, cybercrime, cybersecurity, iCloud, mark consulting group, Matt Hanon, risk, security, social engineering
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This past week, tech writer Matt Honan (of Wired) had his Amazon and Apple accounts hacked and his “…digital life destroyed”. You can read his first hand account here. The hacker did not use any special technology rather was able to hack the accounts using a basic social engineering and knowledge of who the systems worked. Here is a description of the hack from CNN.com:
“At the heart of his story is a dangerous blind spot between the identity verification systems used by Amazon and Apple, two of the tech industry’s most popular vendors.
Like many people, Honan has a variety of email addresses. Several of them can be easily tracked down by anyone hunting around online. The hacker who went after Honan found his @me.com address — a tip-off that Honan had an AppleID account. (more…)
Global Security, Privacy, & Risk Management 