Anonymous, a well-known hacker group, is claiming to have broken into an Apple server and obtained usernames and passwords. The server in question appears to be the abs.apple.com server, which Apple utilizes for online surveys. Anonymous issued a tweet from its Twitter account on Sunday claiming Apple could be a potential target.

"Not being so serious, but well ... Apple could be target, too. But don't worry, we are busy elsewhere,..."

The usernames and passwords of 27 individuals were then published to the text-sharing site Pastebin. As of Monday, that specific server displayed an error message. Apple declined to comment when asked.

For those of you not familiar with the hacker group Anonymous, they are well-known for attacking sites and companies that they consider opponents of the popular site WikiLeaks. It's also said that the hacker/WikiLeak group LulzSec emerged from Anonymous as well. These groups have hit Sony Corporation, the Central Intelligence Agency, and many others simply for their own enjoyment (or maybe to make a point?).

I don't see groups like these setting their eyes on Apple when it comes to a seriously malicious attack but who knows? They don't seem to put all their efforts into exploiting any one particular company but any data breach is a concern. Hopefully Apple is looking into this.

[Reuters]

Since Apple made the Apple TV iOS 4.1 firmware available on their website, developers and hackers alike have been scouring through with a fine toothed comb. What they have found so far is quite interesting - Facetime may be coming to Apple TV via your iPhone 4 using AirPlay, there could be DVD remote support, and the device does contain bluetooth code.

Perhaps the most exciting find has been what we touched on earlier today, Apple TV is capable of being jailbroken via the Shatter exploit.

Check out the source links below for more, including Erica Sadun's comprehensive article at TUAW. Should be pretty exciting to see what this little device will be capable of in the upcoming weeks.

[TUAW, forums.mactalk.com.au via 9to5Mac]

We've warned you previously about some of the security vulnerabilities that come with jailbreaking your iPhone. Turns out a Dutch hacker has gone and made a point to a countless number of jailbroken devices by using a port scanning technique along with some networking smarts. Then after he gained access to the jailbroken iPhones the rest was easy. All of the devices that were hacked had unchanged root passwords along with SSH enabled. You'd know if you were hacked if the following message popped up on your screen:

If you don't pay, it's fine by me, but remember, the way I got access to your iPhone can be used by thousands of others-they can send text messages from your number (like I did), use it to call or record your calls, and actually whatever they want, even use it for their hacking activities! I can assure you, I have no intention of harming you or whatever, but, some hackers do! It's just my advice to secure your phone.

Like promised, no harm was done or will be done. It turns out the hacker just wanted to teach people a simple lesson - change your root passwords and disable SSH. He's even been nice enough to post directions on how to make sure your jailbroken iPhone is not at risk.

[Via Gizmodo]