Apple: iTunes Hack Is No Big Deal

From PC World: News of hacked iTunes user accounts made headlines earlier this week, but it turns out only a very small fraction of users were affected. Apple says just 400 user accounts were compromised over the weekend, which equals to around 0.0003 percent of the over 150 million iTunes account holders.

Reports emerged on Sunday that a Vietnamese developer called Thuat Nguyen gamed the App Store ratings in the Books category, by purchasing his own apps using hacked iTunes accounts. At one point, the developer's apps occupied 42 of the top 50 apps sold in the Books section, and users reported purchases of up to $500 with their accounts.

Nguyen's apps had been removed from the App Store late as of Sunday, because he "violat[ed] the developer Program License Agreement, including fraudulent purchase patterns," Apple said. The company also claims that its iTunes servers were not compromised in any way.

When short, insecure passwords for iTunes accounts are used, users leave themselves open to hackers guessing their credentials. Compromised accounts are also nothing new: on the forums of the MacRumors site, there are dozens of replies in threads dating back from 2008 reporting such problems.

Following this incident, Apple will ask more frequently for your CCV number from your card (last three digits from the number at the back of the card), which is supposed to prove that the card in is the possession of the person making the purchase.

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