"Thinking They Were Judicial Authorities... Apple and Meta Provided Customer Information to Hackers"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] It was recently revealed that Apple and Meta Platforms handed over customer information to hackers impersonating judicial authorities in mid-last year.

On the 30th (local time), Bloomberg News, citing multiple sources, reported that Apple and Meta provided basic customer information such as addresses, contact details, and IP addresses in response to forged "urgent data requests" from hackers in mid-last year. Bloomberg also reported that Snap received customer information requests from the same hackers that year, but it is unclear whether data was provided.

Sources explained that when judicial authorities request customer information, they usually submit a search warrant or summons signed by a judge, but in urgent requests, a separate court order is not required.

Cybersecurity experts are considering the possibility that the perpetrators involved were minor hackers operating in the UK and the US. Experts speculate that one of these hackers appears to be the leader of the cybercrime group Lapsus$, which previously hacked Microsoft, Samsung Electronics, Nvidia, and others.

According to Bloomberg, Apple received 1,162 urgent data requests from 29 countries between July and December 2020 and responded to 93% of them. Meta stated that it received 21,700 urgent data requests worldwide from January to June last year and responded to 77% of them.