Apple has allegedly provided a hacker group with user data. The company has apparently shared the data after the group had managed to forge legal requests documents for the information.
According to a Bloomberg report, three sources close to the matter revealed details regarding this incident, which was a part of a 2021 social engineering scam. Allegedly, the hackers had impersonated as law enforcement officials and were able to persuade the Cupertino based giant’s staff into sharing information regarding their customers’ addresses, phone numbers, and IP addresses as well. They managed to acquire this information after showing a forged “emergency data requests” document.
For those unaware, the iPhone maker usually provides the officials with such information only when a search warrant or subpoena from a judge is provided. However, this does not apply with emergency requests because they are known to be used only in cases of imminent danger. Unfortunately, Apple has yet to confirm if it actually shared the data with the hacker groups and directed Bloomberg to its law enforcement guidelines when asked to comment on the incident.
Similarly, it appears that Facebook’s parent company, Meta, also faced a similar situation as well. The tech giant also allegedly provided the same hacker group with user data and said after they said that they are working with law enforcement on the suspected fraudulent requests. The information acquired from the two companies could be used with malicious intent, like targeted harassment campaigns or even financial fraud schemes.
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