Hackers Hijack Mac Site, Falsely Report Jobs' Death

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 6, 2009 3:28 PM CST
Hackers Hijack Mac Site, Falsely Report Jobs' Death
Apple Inc. executive Phil Schiller, standing in for Jobs, unveils the new pricing plan for iTunes during his keynote address at the Macworld Conference and Expo in San Francisco today.   (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Hackers today attacked an Apple gossip site covering the Macworld convention and falsely reported Steve Jobs’ death on a live blog, CNET reports. The hack is likely the work of shadowy collective 4Chan, which is also responsible for the “Anonymous” attacks on Scientology. The attack, which included random insertions like “SEX ME” and a bold assertion that “STEVE JOBS JUST DIED,” resulted in MacRumorsLive.com going offline.

Whether the site shuttered itself to stop the attack, or the crash was caused by it, is unknown. Hints on 4Chan’s website and the blog seem to implicate the group. A Twitter user reported on Digg that 4Chan users were circulating passwords last night. Regardless, the breach could result in ad losses and server fees for MacRumors. (More Macintosh stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X