New | Chinese iCloud user information targeted in cyberattacks amid Hong Kong protests

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A man holds his new iPhone 6 in front of an Apple store in Shanghai on Friday. Photo: AFP

Published: 5:45pm, 20 Oct 2014Updated: 10:53am, 22 Oct 2014

Chinese authorities appear to have expanded a large internet eavesdropping campaign this month to Apple services, targeting private users’ passwords, emails, photos and contacts, a censorship watchdog has said.

iCloud accounts in China were targeted in a so-called “man-in-the-middle” attack, in which hackers trick users into believing that they are accessing online services through an encrypted connection, GreatFire.org wrote in a blogpost on Monday. The attacker then gains unrestricted access to user accounts.

The attack appears to coincide with the release of Apple’s new iPhone 6 in China on Friday. Apple in Hong Kong and Beijing did not immediately reply to requests for comments on Monday.

GreatFire had earlier suggested that Chinese users of Google and Yahoo services had come under “man-in-the-middle” attacks.

The blog post suggests that the most recent attack against iCloud services could be tied to Hong Kong’s pro-democracy demonstrations which have lasted more than three weeks. The protests also triggered the largest censorship effort so far this year on Chinese social media.

Netresec, a Swedish network security software developer, analysed the attack on Yahoo and found the attack originated in China.