BEIJING: The Chinese government has been accused of backing hackers for attacking on Apple Inc’s iCloud storage and backup service.
According to a Chinese web monitoring group, the hackers are trying to steal user credentials, using what is called a ‘man-in-the-middle’ (MITM) attack.
“The hackers interposed their own website between users and Apple’s iCloud server, intercepting data and potentially gaining access to passwords, iMessages, photos and contacts,” the group wrote in its blog post.
On the other hand, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying has said that Beijing was ‘resolutely opposed’ to hacking as the government itself was a major victim of such attacks.
The hacking attacks started after Apple said it would begin storing iCloud data for Chinese users on China Telecom (0728.HK) servers. It also coincided with the start of iPhone 6 sales in China, which began Friday after weeks of talks between China and Apple over what the government said were cyber security concerns.