Russians arrest two hackers for Apple 'ransomware' attack
Pair confess to targeting owners of Apple devices, mainly in Australia
Russian authorities say two people from Moscow have confessed to a "ransomware" attack on a number of Apple device owners, mainly in Australia, last month.
A statement on the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs website says that the duo, who live in the capital, hatched the scheme, which they carried out first by creating a "phishing" site to collect iCloud logins, and then locking the devices.
People in Australia woke up to find a message on their iPhone, iPad or Mac saying, "Device hacked by Oleg Pliss" and that to unlock it they should pay a ransom of US$100. Some users in New Zealand, the US and Britain were also affected.
The attack was carried out by using the "Find my iPhone/iPad/Mac" feature of the iCloud system. This lets users log in to any web browser and locate their devices if they are connected to the internet.
They can also make the device display a message, and lock it and, if they wish, wipe its data.
Apple had said only that the attack was not a break-in to its iCloud system, and that the affected users' login details must have been compromised elsewhere. It has not released figures on how many people were affected, though data from Australia and Apple's discussions boards seem to suggest that dozens were hit by it.