Apple and Meta spill the tea

The tech giants accidently dished out personal data to a hacking collective known as Lapsus$. 

A lapsus$ of concentration  

Apple and Meta haven’t always enjoyed navigating the world of data protection. In their defense, it’s something lawmakers have only recently started paying attention to – leaving companies whose business models depend on data playing catch up. 

If you’re a cunning hacker, sometimes entering through the front door is all you need to do. Having already been linked to a trail of cybercriminal activities, serial hackers Lapsus$ managed to gain access to private data by simply asking for it. Mimicking an ‘emergency data request’ – which doesn’t need a warrant or subpoena to validate it – the hackers asked the companies for data, and being the morally upstanding companies that they are, they were happy to oblige. Oops.  

Hacking all over the world 

Lapsus$ has been linked to attacks on Microsoft, Ubisoft, Nvidia and Samsung among others, and police suspect it’s a group of teens in the UK and US. Police in the UK made a number of arrests in recent weeks, including a 16-year-old multimillionaire. We’ve all had side jobs, but dude, try something else… 

Arrests are ramping up, and while there’s no word on how many people are part of Lapsus$, we can’t help but wonder how many more arrests it will take to finally scare them back into doing their homework.