Australian Apple iDevices hijacked, held to ransom

[zappaDPJ]

Owners of Apple devices across Australia are having them digitally held for ransom by hackers demanding payment before they will relinquish control.

iPad, iPhone and Mac owners in Queensland, NSW, Western Australia, South Australia and Victoria have reported having their devices held hostage.

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/consumer-security/australian-apple-idevices-hijacked-held-to-ransom-20140527-zrpbj.html

More here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6270410?start=0&tstart=0

It's pretty obvious all these users have a service in common that's been compromised and my money is on eBay.

[Simon]

How can it be localised to that region?

[Simon]

Also, can't they just reset their phones and restore from a backup? 

[zappaDPJ]

I think a lot of people don't sync their devices so there is no backup. As to why it's localised, who knows, maybe they just haven't got to Austria yet

[Steve]

I presume this is an iCloud hack which is a worry

[zappaDPJ]

It's starting to look that way. There are reports that people changing their details are having their devices hacked and locked for the second time.

[Bill]

How can it be localised to that region?

By using the "Find my ..." service:

http://www.tuaw.com/2014/05/27/ransomware-worries-turn-off-find-my-mac-find-my-iphone

[Simon]

I've never used any of those services. 

[Steve]

What baffles me as to why some people don't use a passcode.