Apple has suspended AppleID password resets following the hack of journalist Mat Honan’s iCloud account.
The company has told its support staff not to process password change requests that come in via the phones. An Apple customer service representative told Wired that Apple was halting all AppleID password resets by phone.
According to the Wired source, the password freeze will last at least 24 hours while the company performs system-wide “maintenance updates”.
It is still possible to change AppleID passwords at appleid.apple.com.
As we reported yesterday, Apple has admitted that its “internal policies were not followed completely” in the case that enabled hackers to access Honan’s iCloud account.
According to Honan, the hackers called Apple, gave his name, address and the last four digits of his credit card (which they got from Amazon). Apple technical support reset his iCloud account and issued a temporary password.
Amazon has also made security changes following the hack. Previously it was possible for a hacker to access an account with just the name, email address, and mailing address of a customer. The changes have closed this loophole, reports suggest.
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Author: Karen Haslam, Editor
Macworld editor since 2008, Karen has worked on both sides of the Apple divide, clocking up a number of years at Apple's PR agency prior to joining Macworld two decades ago.
Karen's career highlights include interviewing Apple's Steve Wozniak and discussing Steve Jobs’ legacy on the BBC. Her focus is Mac, but she lives and breathes Apple.