Hacks can occur at any time, are you safe?

A common theme that springs to mind when picturing a computer hacker is a fast-typing criminal in a dark room lit by a laptop screen, perhaps, for some reason, wearing a balaclava. Either way, you probably don’t think of a 16-year-old child from a quiet suburb in Melbourne, Australia.

Yet technology giant, Apple, was hacked by just that, a 16-year-old boy who accessed customer accounts and stole 90GBs’ worth of internal data over the course of a year. He confidently saved much of the data in a file named ‘hacky hack hack’ and has pleaded guilty to the offence. Whilst it casts a further shadow on the security of sensitive customer data and Apple itself, it also dispels some of the myths surrounding the makeup and motivations of a hacker.

When questioned why he had hacked Apple, the 16-year-old said he was a big fan of the firm and dreamed of working there one day. Exactly what internal data he stole is unclear, and Apple insists no customer account information was accessed. His lawyer, however, said customer data was accessed and added that the boy had quickly become known globally in the hacking community.

Luckily for Apple, the boy’s motivations seemed to be focused on garnering attention over anything else and, this time, it was able to quickly fix the issue. In a statement to the BBC, Apple said: “We vigilantly protect our networks and have dedicated teams of information security professionals that work to detect and respond to threats.” Despite this, it has made a huge dent in Apple’s reputation and proves that no company is safe from cyber-crime.

Whether you’re a large organisation or a much smaller enterprise, cyber-crime could harm you, your business and your customers exponentially, especially if you deal with sensitive information. For guidance and advice on Cyber Liability, call Powell Commercial on 01244 345 076.