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The Courts IT Technology

Melbourne Teen Hacked Into Apple's Secure Computer Network, Court Told (theage.com.au) 125

Posted by msmash 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."
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Melbourne Teen Hacked Into Apple's Secure Computer Network, Court Told More

Melbourne Teen Hacked Into Apple's Secure Computer Network, Court Told

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

  • And now (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    ... going to jaily jail jail

  • Mainframe? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Jaime2 ( 824950 ) on Thursday August 16, 2018 @11:04AM (#57137788)
    Who here believes that Apple stores its data on a mainframe?

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

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

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Jaime2 ( 824950 )
        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.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Its 2000 clustered IPods.

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

  • Flash forward (Score:3)

    by Lucas123 ( 935744 ) on Thursday August 16, 2018 @11:07AM (#57137810) Homepage
    And, this kid will be making big bucks using his skills for Apple or some other tech giant.

    • Re:Flash forward (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Thursday August 16, 2018 @11:09AM (#57137836)

      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".

      • 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.

        • 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.

        • 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 gre

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by quenda ( 644621 )

      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.

  • 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}

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

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by sinij ( 911942 )
        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.

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

  • Poor kid (Score:4, Insightful)

    by SuperKendall ( 25149 ) on Thursday August 16, 2018 @11:09AM (#57137828)

    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.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Nutria ( 679911 )

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

    • 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.

    • 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.

      • 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.

        • 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.

  • It won't happen again (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

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

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

  • Genius haxx0r (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    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

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by zlives ( 2009072 )

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

    • 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.

  • 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

  • Serial Number Question (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

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

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      apple spies on all their devices

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

  • 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.

  • https://www.itnews.com.au/news... [itnews.com.au]

    Perhaps the one that was publishing iPhone leaks for months?

    Nah....

  • 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.

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