Apple 'Deeply Apologetic' Over Account Hacks in China (wsj.com) 14
Apple has issued an apology over the hacking of some Chinese accounts in phishing scams, almost a week after it emerged that stolen Apple IDs had been used to swipe customer funds. From a report: In its English statement Tuesday, Apple said it found "a small number of our users' accounts" had been accessed through phishing scams. "We are deeply apologetic about the inconvenience caused to our customers by these phishing scams," Apple said in its Chinese statement. The incident came to light last week when Chinese mobile-payment giants Alipay and WeChat Pay said some customers had lost money. The victims of the scams, Apple said Tuesday, hadn't enabled so-called two-factor authentication -- a setting that requires a user to log in with a password and a freshly-generated code to verify their identity.
Sorry for what? (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
If Apple provided the ability for two-factor authentication, and customers didn't use it, and they got phished - what exactly is Apple apologizing for? PEBKAC?
For some people, 2FA doesn't help. When some people aren't cautious enough, they could still be scam [wandera.com] from phishing. It all depends on how well the scammer is too. Thus, 2FA is NOT a perfect solution for all (but could be most).
Re: (Score:2)
Sure, Apple has nothing to be ashamed of (at least in *this* situation), but that doesn't mean they have nothing to apologize for.
There's a whole scope of application for apologies that involves keeping everything running smoothly despite peoples' unreasonable hurt feelings. I know that for a lot of people apologizing when you've done nothing wrong is inconceivable, but it's often cost-effective, because an apology doesn't really cost you anything.
Re: (Score:2)
If Apple provided the ability for two-factor authentication
That's a big 'if'? What are the chances that the Chinese demanded that Apple not implement anything that authorities couldn't easily crack? And that blew back and bit them in the ass when hackers got hold of the back door?
NSA and the other Five Eyes stooges, I'm looking at you.