While Ransomware – where hackers hold a computer or device “for ransom” until the user pays a fee – is common in the Windows world, it’s rare on Macs and non-jailbroken iOS devices. Now it seems hackers are trying to convince unwitting iOS users that their devices are being held hostage.
Hackers use Find My iPhone to lock the phone, displaying a message demanding a ransom for access.
This device is locked. Unlock 50$. Email for details: helpappledevice@gmail.com
While most savvy users won’t fall for a trick like this – as they’ll quickly recognize it as a Find My iPhone message that can be cleared by simply entering their device’s passcode – some new, or less knowledgable iOS users might fall for it and pay the ransom.
Such an “attack” requires a compromised Apple ID that is associated with the device, which in the case of some users, might be easily obtained from a hacked website where the user might have used the same login and password information they did for their Apple ID. So, we can’t stress enough to use unique passwords passwords on every website, and to turn on two-factor authentication for your Apple ID.
