Questions raised about apple security after iCloud 'hack'

Speculation of a security breach is spreading among users of Apple Inc.'s cloud-based service iCloud after a small number of iCloud accounts were reportedly compromised, an Apple-oriented tech site reported. AppleInsider.com cited details from a thread on the Apple Support Communities forum, where iCloud users voiced concern their accounts were compromised. The users were quoted as saying their Me.com e-mail address was hacked into and began sending out spam on Wednesday. "I never use my @me email for anything, and I guarantee someone didn't break into the account by guessing my password (or brute force methods) – it's a pseudoly randomly generated string of 15 numbers, letters (upper and lower case) and symbols (I worked in IT for many years and am perhaps overly zealous about password security, which makes memorization a real pain)," they said. AppleInsider cited a second thread started this week that involved users experiencing similar issues. But it said the threads have a "relatively small" number of replies and reader views, suggesting the supposed hacking was not widespread. Spam in sent folder Users affected by the alleged hacks claimed finding a series of spam e-mails in the "Sent" folder of their iCloud e-mail account. The advertisements were sent to users' contacts that were synced with iCloud, and were related to "making money on your home computer." "I'm an IT professional with 10 years experience, and wouldn't fall for a phishing scam even on my drunkest of days," user "tsnow20" wrote in the same thread. User "tsnow20" also said he/she was certain his/her password "wasn't guessed either." AppleInsider said the user claimed the spam messages were sent out to contacts that were only synced with iCloud. However, it said contacts stored with Microsoft Outlook and Mozilla Thunderbird did not receive any spam from their account. It added most of the users on the thread said they do not use their iCloud or MobileMe e-mail addresses. They discovered their account had been compromised after they received text messages and e-mails from friends notifying them that their accounts were sending out spam e-mails. One user, with the handle "øivindfromoslo," said they spoke with an Apple support representative who assisted them in removing all of their contacts from iCloud. They added they had not logged on to the iCloud.com website in six months and never used their Me.com e-mail address. "I suspect that the entire issue is caused by some weakness on (Apple's) end," they wrote, "either in the icloud.com logon part or in the iOS software (one might be able to extract iCloud logon info with a specifically crafted website or something, who knows)." — LBG, GMA News