back to article Hacker claims whaling expedition harpooned Steve Jobs

A hacker has claimed he hijacked the Amazon.com account of Steve Jobs by sending the Apple CEO a phony email that tricked him into logging in to a fake website, according to the Cult of Mac blog. Reporter Leander Kahney was ultimately unable to confirm if screenshots and other information provided by the hacker, who identified …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Jobs Horns

    Probably Only..

    got a personal assistant fired. Remember, these "high worth" folks often have a personal assistant or twelve to handle grunt work like buying their stuff, and from some I have met, they are good suck-ups, but not the sharpest knives in the drawer.

  2. Nexox Enigma

    Quite some hacker...

    Who names themselves after an old school wifi card? And who's got a big enough ego to think that a fancy fishing scam is something to brag about?

    Internet miscreants just have no sense of style these days. It's bad enough that botnets have commercialized nefarious internet activities, but calling this sort of thing 'hacking' is worthless. I suppose it is some kind of low level social engineering attack, but damn, it's nothing like Mitnick is rumored to have pulled off. Back when hackers were hackers and the internet was cool.

  3. Michael

    *sigh*

    It's not "hacking" if you know the password...

    This kid's acting all badass, talking about how he stole a car, when in reality, the owner handed him the keys. Not at all impressive.

  4. Kanhef
    Thumb Down

    Questionable

    An average of 5.5 items per day for ten years is unlikely at best. I suspect a different sort of scam is going on, given this guy's 'if you have to ask you can't afford it' attitude.

  5. Alan Esworthy
    Thumb Down

    Nice phrase choice

    Yes, this guy has done a public service the way a stallion services a mare.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Nexox Enigma

    Could also be a Venezualan 'Wombles' fan, or even a lover of Columbian exports?

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Jobs Halo

    Scores To Settle?

    "...a history of the nuclear bomb."

    Any one can fall for a scam, the higher up one is, the more isolated and insulated, the more likely a scam can be made to work, if you can get past security. Back when the world was virtually young the head gurus of Sun stopped by Steve Jobs' house to talk a possible Sun/Apple merger. The head Sun guy reported coming across Mr. Jobs in his backyard, sitting under a tree reading "How To Make An Atomic Bomb". Has Mr. Jobs an obsession? Shouldn't it be "Sharks with fricken lasers on their heads" or some such thing?

  8. Christopher Ahrens

    Sounds like

    Someone actually penetrated the Reality Distortion Field around Steve.

    @Nexox Enigma

    Back when hackers were hackers, men were wne, women were men, and 12-year olds were undercover FBI agents....

    Ah those were the days....

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Jobs Halo

    ummm...

    Maybe I misread the article, but it says none of his claims were able to be confirmed. Can I have my own article on el Reg if I claim to have "hacked" some exec's ebay account? If you give me a few hours, I'll photoshop you some evidence.

  10. jake Silver badge

    @Nexox Enigma

    "Who names themselves after an old school wifi card?"

    My wife thought s/he was named ofter the Enya song. I guessed the Womble :-)

    Mitnick is and was a putz.

  11. Jeremy
    Pirate

    Bollocks

    It's fake.

    You'll notice that the bottom right of the screenshot is blocked out (looks like a 4yo did it in MS Paint). Presumably under that is a Firebug icon and this kid just signed into his own Amazon account and edited various elements to make it look the business.

    I'm amazed anyone was taken by it, even to the point of reporting it 'dubiously'....

  12. Chronos
    Joke

    Look on the bright side!

    At least the news that old Stevo is responding to phishes will keep Apple's stock afloat!

    No, that was uncalled for: I'm better than that...

    ...no, I'm not ;o)

  13. E_Nigma

    Mitnick?

    A bit off-topic, but, as far as I understand, Mitnick, in his alleged deeds, also used social engineering rather than technical expertize (and all in the time when people were much less aware of that aspect of tech security).

    But back on topic. If this is true, it just confirms the known fact (which stands even if the whole story doesn't) that no matter how secure your system is, one is never safe because the user is always a liability. Also, it would be interesting to know that Jobs purchased himself a Blu Ray player, something a Mac or Apple TV owner shouldn't need. Still, a big "if".

  14. Christopher Martin
    Unhappy

    I'm confused

    Is there any evidence at all that this really happened?

    If no, does that mean El Reg seriously just published a story whose sole source is "some guy on the Internet"?

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I thought it was a stingray....

    I thought the title said Steve Irwin... and was all like OMG! WTF! Conspiracy hush up! Those damn secret Japanese whalers, and their vendetta against stingrays...

    ... this is much less interesting.

  16. Sarah Baucom
    Thumb Down

    Fake

    Log into your Amazon account and look at the top where it welcomes you. If this were actually owned by someone named "Steve Jobs," it would say:

    "Hello, Steve Jobs. We have recommendations for you. (Not Steve?)"

    his picture shows:

    "Hello, Steve Jobs. We have recommendations for you. (Not Steve Jobs?)"

  17. Adrian Esdaile
    Unhappy

    I'm hurt and upset...

    ..because this tool went and used my favourite online pseudonym.

    Thanks, you moron.

    Unless I've suddenly turned into something like Lain and I'm doing it in an alternate reality.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @Michael

    "It's not "hacking" if you know the password..."

    tell that to the person who "hacked" sarah palins email

  19. DutchOven
    Thumb Down

    Hardly news

    If it's true then the story "Man falls for phishing attack" isn't news.

    If it's fake then the story "Kiddie knocks up fakes in photoshop" isn't news.

    ...and let's face it, on the evidence, it looks as fake as fake can be.

  20. Dave++

    Son

    I am disappoint.

  21. cor
    Jobs Horns

    Wow steve jobs uses his real name on amazon...

    Fancy that.

    I would'a thought he'd have a madey-uppy-name like most.

    But I suppose ther emay be more than one Steve Jobs...

    let's see... whitepages.com:

    26 Results matching "Steve Jobs, United States".

    wow really?

    There IS more than one Steve Jobs in the US.

    Wow, now that is shocking.

    ....Y a w n.....

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I smell a fake

    Kid thinks he "hacked" Steve Jobs?

    I "hacked" Santa. Yeh beat that!

    http://dump.no/files/3095c271c150/santa.JPG

    <3 MSPaint

  23. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    @Nexox

    Mate, you are 'famous'! :o)

    http://www.smallbizpod.co.uk/blog/2008/08/11/is-your-data-safe-on-us-visits/

  24. The Fuzzy Wotnot
    Thumb Up

    Grow up sonny, eh?

    "Imagine how safe Mac is if you can trick the mighty Steve Jobs,"

    WTF has it got to do with O/S security?!?! What a first class prat! The biggest security risk is the one with their fingers on the keyboard. If this was true then it was probably one of his aides who did this by mistake, if he did do it then Steves a bigger twat than we first thought!

    Somehow I find this poor execuse for a hacker ( named after a bloody Womble for flip's sake! ) to be pretty shoddy. You've had your 15 secs of fame, now do us all a favour sonny, leave the adults alone and FOAD eh?

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