A hacking group, known as Anonymous, posted claims this week that it accessed 12 million Apple device codes, also known as unique device identifier numbers (UDIDs), from an FBI computer. Now, Apple and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have said the claim lacks merit.
Anonymous said it accessed the data in March by hacking into an FBI laptop. The group claimed the flaws in Java allowed hackers to obtain the IDs. Hackers have taken advantage of these security flaws in the past to infect Macs and PCs. Yesterday, the FBI confirmed that its laptops were not used and that no one from the FBI gathered this data. Apple also said it did not provide any organization with the account information.
Security Breach?
At this time, the FBI has said it does not consider this a serious security breach. In looking at the information, it does mostly come across as a bunch of rants, although it appears hackers have posted some actual user devices and unique codes assigned to iPhones, iPads and other devices.
Are Device Codes Threatening?
By themselves, hackers cannot really do much with the device codes. The issue of privacy comes into question when the UDIDs are viewed with sensitive information like addresses and phone numbers. In this case, it does not appear Anonymous has that additional information, or at least, the group has not posted that.
Apple took proactive measures against hacking prior to the incident. The latest version of software for the iPhone and other devices will have a feature that replaces UDIDs. That should provide better security protection for users.
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