Journalist blames Apple tech for allowing iCloud hack

Former Gizmodo reporter says device wipes and Twitter breaches occurred after an 

AppleCare technician fell victim to a bit of social engineering.

Former Gizmodo reporter Mat Honan is blaming an AppleCare technician for allowing his 

personal e-mail and Twitter accounts to be hacked, as well as the tech blog's official feed.


The Gizmodo breach, apparently perpetrated by a person or group of people calling 

themselves Clan W3, was brief but resulted in racist and offensive tweets being sent to 

the tech blog's 415,000 followers on Friday. Gizmodo initially blamed its former reporter

 for the tweets and quickly regained control of its account.

But Honan, who currently works for Wired, was not so fortunate. He described in a 

blog posthow he had learned his iCloud account had been breached by a hacker who

 wiped his devices and gained access to his Gmail and Twitter accounts. Now he says

 an Apple technician fell victim to social engineering, a technique of manipulating people

 instead of computers to perform a task or divulge information:

I know how it was done now. Confirmed with both the hacker and Apple. It wasn't 

password related. They got in via Apple tech support and some clever social engineering 

that let them bypass security questions. Apple has my Macbook and is trying to recover

 the data. I'm back in all my accounts that I know I was locked out of. Still trying to

 figure out where else they were.

Honan says the hacks occurred Friday evening when someone gained access to his

 iCloud account and reset his password. That led to the remote wipe of his iPhone, 

iPad, and MacBook Air and hijack of the Twitter accounts. The blog also describes 

the challenges he faced in regaining control of his devices and accounts.

CNET has contacted Apple for comment and will update this report when we learn

 more.He said he initially suspected the hacker used brute force to learn his seven-

digit alphanumeric password, but Honan said in a blog update that someone claiming 

to be the hacker contacted him, saying he "didnt guess ur password or use bruteforce. 

i have my own guide on how to secure emails."Link more info-Skcomputersolutions
by Steven Musil
August 5, 2012 11:44 AM PDT