In the movies, hackers often type away at a keyboard and somehow — movie magic, perhaps — manage to crack a network’s security and access encrypted files and protected data. In real life, bypassing security measures can be as simple as sweet-talking tech support. That is how tech journalist Mat Honan, a former Gizmodo writer, came under attack. Someone called Apple’s support staff and gained control of Honan’s iCloud storage account, which compromised his associated Apple devices, and even his Gmail and Twitter accounts.
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'Hack' Attack on Journo Was Just a Simple Engineering Feat
Posted by: Peter Suciu August 6, 2012 12:11 PMIn the movies, hackers often type away at a keyboard and somehow — movie magic, perhaps — manage to crack a network’s security and access encrypted files and protected data. In real life, bypassing security measures can be as simple as sweet-talking tech support. That is how tech journalist Mat Honan, a former Gizmodo writer, came under attack. Someone called Apple’s support staff and gained control of Honan’s iCloud storage account, which compromised his associated Apple devices, and even his Gmail and Twitter accounts.