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Melbourne Teen Hacked Into Apple's Secure Computer Network, Court Told (theage.com.au)

Posted by msmash on from the child's-play dept.

A Melbourne private schoolboy who repeatedly broke into Apple's secure computer systems is facing criminal charges after the technology giant called in the FBI. From a report: The teen, who cannot be named for legal reasons, broke into Apple's mainframe from his suburban home on multiple occasions over a year because he was such a fan of the company, according to his lawyer. The Children's Court heard on Thursday that he had downloaded 90GB of secure files and accessed customer accounts. His offending from the age of 16 saw him develop computerized tunnels and online bypassing systems to hide his identity until a raid on his family home uncovered a litany of hacking files and instructions all saved in a folder titled "hacky hack hack."

58 of 125 comments (clear)

  1. Hacky hack hack by hollowpnt · · Score: 1

    "hacky hack hack" watch out for this kid, he means business

    1. Re:Hacky hack hack by ir0nHat · · Score: 2

      "Hacky McHackface" could have been his cybername.

    2. Re:Hacky hack hack by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      Hackity Hack. Don't talk back.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
  2. And now by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    ... going to jaily jail jail

  3. Mainframe? by Jaime2 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Who here believes that Apple stores its data on a mainframe?

    1. Re:Mainframe? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Well, considering how much they generally understand of technology today...

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:Mainframe? by ArchieBunker · · Score: 2

      The mainframe business is alive and well. Read up on some of the new features of these beasts.

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    3. Re:Mainframe? by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1

      I didn't see anything about source code, they mentioned access keys. They probably used it for employee info and payroll and that kind of thing. Oddly enough IBM has been buying a lot of Apple hardware for corporate. They said yes the initial outlay was greater but the costs were saved with less support and help desk calls.

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    4. Re:Mainframe? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Its 2000 clustered IPods.

    5. Re:Mainframe? by Jaime2 · · Score: 1

      I'm well aware of the existence of the Z-Series and that it runs *nix. I'm also aware that IBM has a huge open source presence and a large installed base of web applications on WebSphere. However, Apple doesn't strike me as the type of company that "buys IBM". My comment wasn't about some supposed irrelevance of mainframes, it was about the fact that Apple isn't the kind of company that would gravitate to them.

    6. Re:Mainframe? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      You mean all the keyboards that Apple has to repair out of their own pocket?

      I hope it teaches them a fucking lesson about screwing a perfectly good keyboard design just to shave off 1mm of the thickness of their fucking laptops.

      Long live the MacBook Air!

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    7. Re: Mainframe? by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      Aww, don't spoil it. At least wait 'til the first ones replied with foam coming from their mouth.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    8. Re:Mainframe? by hackertourist · · Score: 3, Informative

      At one point, Apple had a line of servers that ran AIX.

    9. Re: Mainframe? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      It will cost a lot to Apple, which is my point.

      As for IBM, it will cost them time so we can only wish they'll put even more pressure on Apple about fixing this problem and maybe not letting the industrial designer in charge of fucking everything the next time around. When your engineers tell you "enough is enough" it's time to back off.

      What's his fucking goal, anyway? A paper-thin laptop?

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    10. Re: Mainframe? by johnsnails · · Score: 1

      I want to know why apple gives itself access to bulky practical devices but not its customers.

    11. Re:Mainframe? by baegucb · · Score: 1

      I think I read the latest z series can run Windows. It already runs UNIX (sorta) and Linux. It'd be funny to fire up a test LPAR with windows, and run some games.

  4. Flash forward by Lucas123 · · Score: 2

    And, this kid will be making big bucks using his skills for Apple or some other tech giant.

    1. Re:Flash forward by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Nope. Sorry to burst that bubble, but a criminal record is not a letter of recommendation.

      Or, in the words of an ex-boss of mine "I don't need people with a criminal record. People who don't know how not to get caught are bad for the company reputation".

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:Flash forward by Kulahan · · Score: 1

      Who pissed in your cheerios?

    3. Re:Flash forward by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Actually, he paid quite handsomely. You do want to pay the people who could easily blow up your operation without leaving a trace well so they want your operation to continue. Pure self interest.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    4. Re:Flash forward by Lucas123 · · Score: 2

      Never heard of Frank Abagnale, who was hired by the FBI after committing years of fraud? Loyd Blankenship, a hacker for more than a decade, who was then was hired by Steve Jackson Games in 1989 to work on GURPS Cyberpunk. Howabout Peter Hajas, a well known developer/hacker for jailbroken iOS devices, was hired by Apple in 2011?

      The list goes on and on.

    5. Re:Flash forward by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Got anyone in the more recent past? Like, say, in the past decade or two?

      Back then, three letter agencies and even companies hired criminals, until they noticed that a criminal isn't suddenly turning around just because you pay him to do so.

      The first thing you get asked for in ANY IT security related job is a police record. And if there's more on it than a parking violation, don't bother to apply, you just waste your, and my, time.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    6. Re:Flash forward by quenda · · Score: 1

      And, this kid will be making big bucks using his skills for Apple or some other tech giant.

      Or locked in a small flat in Knightsbridge, like that other famous Melbourne schoolboy hacker, Mendax.

    7. Re:Flash forward by skovnymfe · · Score: 1

      Frank wasn't hired by the FBI, Frank accepted a deal to stay out of prison by being a slave for the FBI. Jailbreaking phones isn't a federal offence, and a single example from 1989 isn't going to hold up in today's environment.

      Hackers used to have credibility and respect in certain circles, but no one cares about those dumb fucks anymore with their endless malware and shit. Who's seriously going to hire a malicious kiddo fuck whose only desire is to smash and break, and steal anything they can get their greasy fingers on?

  5. aha! by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 1

    until a raid on his family home uncovered a litany of hacking files and instructions all saved in a folder titled "hacky hack hack."

    {cornpone down-homey voice}See, there's yer problem right there ... {/cornpone down-homey voice}

    1. Re:aha! by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Had he called it "furry porn", nobody would have dared to touch it with a ten foot pole.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:aha! by sinij · · Score: 1

      Your lack of imagination shows.

      Steganographic encryption on top of Hillary email archive dump. Even if FBI suspects there is data hidden in these, nobody would want to look into it.

    3. Re:aha! by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      Great, now I have to search for "ten foot pole furry porn" just to see what results I'll get.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
  6. Poor kid by SuperKendall · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I feel really sorry for young hackers like this, who are just doing the exploration for fun and not really in it for espionage or destructive motives... this is one case where I really wish Apple would have hired him to do security testing and not sent his life on a downward spiral.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Poor kid by Nutria · · Score: 1, Interesting

      A fan of Apple would have told Apple that their system is hackable.

      --
      "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
    2. Re:Poor kid by SuperKendall · · Score: 2

      So where exactly are you falling on the spectrum these days?

      I'm a big fan of indigo (specifically 463nm), or infa-red (more specifically 750-800nm).

      Thanks for asking!

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    3. Re:Poor kid by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      On one hand I agree with you in principle, but on the other it's probably best that somebody set this kid straight before he went too far down the wrong path. This should serve as a valuable lesson on the dangers of Apple fanboyism.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    4. Re:Poor kid by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      That was not his question, you idiot.

      Me, I'm a fan of the ZX Spectrum +3 because it was the first ZX Spectrum to support 384KB of RAM and microSD cards up to 4MB.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    5. Re:Poor kid by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 3, Insightful

      On one hand I agree with you in principle

      I know it's sad, but there's so many people using the word "principal" when they meant to use "principle" that I feel obligated to give you this virtual moderation:

      +1, Proper grammar.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    6. Re:Poor kid by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

      Oh! Well in that case I have to say even though they got the name wrong, I prefer the ZX Spectrum labeled the Timex Sinclair 2068 as it's the second system I learned to program on (following the ZX-81, but of course that doesn't count as it's not on the Spectrum).

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    7. Re:Poor kid by Stan92057 · · Score: 1

      Not me at least not until he answers for his crimes.Community service plenty good punishment for a teen. Ya hes a kid and should get a break but not having to answer for his crimes is a bad message to send.

      --
      Jack of all trades,master of none
    8. Re:Poor kid by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

      That to me is the line though, I don't feel like what the kid did was meant to harm in any way, therefore even though he broke the law, I'm not sure I see what he did ethically as a crime... or at least not on the same level as a hacker breaking (not just breaking into) systems.

      If he just gets community service that seems appropriate to me also; I just fear it will be a lot worse than that for him.

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  7. It won't happen again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Hack me once, shame on you. Hack me twice... you can't get hacked again.

    1. Re:It won't happen again by zlives · · Score: 2

      hehe, i miss that guy, who wudda thunk

  8. Hello, Editor? by sizzlinkitty · · Score: 2

    Someone should proof read this article. My 5 month old great dane can write better than whoever put this dumpster fire together.

  9. Genius haxx0r by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Apparantly his "tunelling" and "bypassing" sk1llz were not so l337.

    I mean how did they trace him back if he used them to "hide his identity"...

    Classic "journalists". The kid probably guessed an ssh account and password and logged into some BSD box and downloaded whatever the thing had access to. Next thing you know he is a spy-master adolescent genius on the verge of hacking the planet into oblivion and seven SWAT teams, backed by tanks and F16s have to neutralize the "threat" to the Free World, the Purity Of American Bodily Fluids and Holy Corporate Profits....

    Stop the presses! Extra! Extra! ...
     

    1. Re:Genius haxx0r by zlives · · Score: 1

      chown is a dirty word, i am just waiting till we start the war against cyber terrorism. that will go well.

    2. Re: Genius haxx0r by c6gunner · · Score: 2

      I mean how did they trace him back if he used them to "hide his identity"...

      By contacting the owners of the machines he was tunneling through and getting them to watch for the next time he connected. This is why you shouldn't reuse tunnels when doing this kind of thing.

  10. Seriously a "mainframe" by Dorianny · · Score: 1
    If Apple is still using a "mainframe" it serves them right. LOL

    Seriously thou from the sounds of it, I would wager he got into the internal network of a local Apple store

  11. Yes, exactly... by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    That's kind of what I was thinking as well, he wasn't really a HACKER hacker (despite what his folder naming would indicate). He was more just an explorer, a miner who delved too deep...

    So Apple hiring him would not be so much to unveil technical secrets as more to explore what commercial/free exploits could be used to access Apple systems and then reverse engineer how those worked.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  12. Serial Number Question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    How did Apple know the serial numbers of the computers that accessed their network?

    1. Re:Serial Number Question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      apple spies on all their devices

  13. Re:Full Disclosure? by MassacrE · · Score: 1

    Apple has since fixed it, but there was a little icon on their page with a 'pi' symbol on it, he must have found that and clicked on it.

  14. So its not just the Russians by rossdee · · Score: 1

    Even the Aussies are hacking our computers - maybenow Trump will do something about it

  15. I didn't know ValuHack worked on Apple PCs by filesiteguy · · Score: 1

    I remember it only running on my Apple IIe. Honestly surprised a kid was (a) using a Macintosh PC and (b) knew enough to tunnel into Apple's servers.

    --
    The Kai's Semi-Updated Website Thingy
  16. Re:We learnt after "The Fappening" it's not secure by ledow · · Score: 1

    iCloud is generally nothing more than AWS or Azure instances.

    The Register did an article on it ages ago.

    It's why Apple STILL can't give proper data protection guarantees that even Google can give you (e.g. UK DPA / GDPR).

  17. Re:We learnt after "The Fappening" it's not secure by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 2

    all users' iCloud data just sits there unencrypted, ready to be filtered by personal details. Calling it secure is hilarious, and if you ever thought your stuff was secure and private with Apple, you were equally hilariously wrong.

    iCloud data is end-to-end encrypted.

    Now fuck off.

  18. I wonder who this mystery teen could be.... by Zaelath · · Score: 1

    https://www.itnews.com.au/news...

    Perhaps the one that was publishing iPhone leaks for months?

    Nah....

  19. Re: Not "Hacky McHackface?" by johnsnails · · Score: 1

    A fellow Aussie I see.

  20. Re:Not "Hacky McHackface?" by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

    That would make him British, wouldn't it?

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
  21. Danger is extradition by aberglas · · Score: 1

    An Australian court will at most give the kid a suspended sentence. Probably not even that.

    But if they get him to the USA it is a long stretch in jail and a ruined life.

    So that is extradition that is the key issue here. And of course he can never visit the USA.

  22. Inconcievable! by dromgodis · · Score: 1

    A Melbourne private schoolboy who repeatedly broke into Apple's secure computer systems

    he had downloaded 90GB of secure files

    You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

  23. Re:We learnt after "The Fappening" it's not secure by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

    and its still a insecure piece of shit.

    Prove it.

    "The Fappening" was not the result of bad security; just stupid Passwords.

    https://techcrunch.com/2016/03...

    But just keep on spreadin' the Hate...