Hackers threaten to wipe “hundreds of millions” of iPhones, Apple says they can’t

A bunch of hackers calling themselves the “Turkish Crime Family” had threatened to wipe “hundreds of millions” of iPhones if Apple didn’t pay them money. Apple calls their bluff.

The hacker group claimed to have access to over 300 million Apple accounts (including @icloud.com accounts), some of the group claimed 559 million accounts. They demanded that Apple give them $75,000 in Bitcoin, Ether, or $100,000 in iTunes gift cards. Apple was given until 7 April to respond.

Motherboard spoke to the hackers and could not verify their claims. While the hackers claim to have the data, they could not furnish proof of possession. The hackers also showed Motherboard screenshots of alleged conversations with Apple support staff, but since they didn’t share the actual emails, the screenshots aren’t easy to trust.

Apple refused to comment on the issue till it conducted an investigation, which concluded today. Apple’s investigations have led them to conclude that Apple accounts are perfectly safe that that hackers never actually breached them.

Fortune has learned that Apple believes that the data claimed to be from the breach came from third-party sources that may have been compromised. However, the iPhone-maker does take the opportunity to remind users to use secure passwords, two-factor authentication and to not reuse the same password.

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from http://tech.firstpost.com/news-analysis/hackers-threaten-to-wipe-hundreds-of-millions-of-iphones-apple-says-they-cant-368410.html