Tuesday, July 6, 2010

App Store and iTunes Accounts Hacked

Over the weekend a number of publications received tips from readers about their iTunes account being hacked. According to Engadget and The Next Web, some users saw hundreds of dollars spent on Vietnamese ebooks.

The hacking is said to be the result of one developer trying to 'game the system' to bring his applications to more prominent positions in the App Store. Engadget yesterday afternoon reported that 42 of the top 50 books by revenue are from the seller Thuat Nguyen, whose company website ("mycompany") leads to parked site www.home.com. A lot of the books were released in April and have no customer ratings or reviews.
The books have since disappeared from the App Store suggesting Apple smelled a rat and moved quickly to remove the offending applications.
The Next Web claims these hackings are more widespread than one developer. TNW reports that countless iTunes users have had their accounts compromised and the apps purchased were not exclusive to Thuat Nguyen.

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