Users of a Chinese auction site are brazenly selling access to compromised iTunes accounts that offer downloads of movies and music for pennies on the dollar. According to China's Global Times, about 50,000 pillaged iTunes accounts were up for sale on Taobao.com for as little as $5. Access to thousands of accounts has already …

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Sunday 9th January 2011 00:29 GMT Daniel 1

Are they stolen accounts?

Way I read it, they were iTunes accounts set up with stolen credit card details.

I supposed that's less of an IT angle, though, isn't it? Better to stick with the original version. Who needs the truth, when what you need is page-impressions? (Let me know when the dot.com bubble is over.)

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Sunday 9th January 2011 00:40 GMT JeffyPooh

Formal notice to Apple

Be advised: My IP is not from China.

Regards.

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Sunday 9th January 2011 19:31 GMT Pascal Monett

"no action taken so far against the iTunes pillagers"

Of course, it is much easier to take down a lone Bittorrent user and claim "victory" against "piracy" then to actually go after a real pirate using criminal methods to make money. With real pirates there's all this "foreign country" stuff and nonsense about "different laws" and you learn, shocked, that the entire world is not actually subject to a U.S. court of justice.

Bummer.

So you go back to sending threatening letters to P2P users and hope to cash in a little something while real pirates turn your "security" into a joke and laugh all the way to the bank. But that's not important to you because the real pirates only swindle . . . your customers.

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Sunday 9th January 2011 20:08 GMT The Unexpected Bill

What I'd like to know...

I am wondering how this came to happen...was it the result of compromised computers being used to access iTunes/Apple accounts or a breach of Apple's security?

It would be immensely helpful to know the cause, if anyone has reported on that.

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1. Monday 10th January 2011 13:37 GMT Matthew 17
  
  Re: What I'd like to know...
  
  Shit passwords + brute force guessing.
  
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Sunday 9th January 2011 20:13 GMT AndrueC

Damn

And the worst of it is that if own an iPod you are almost forced to give your CC details just to use it.

On the plus side two months after I did that I had my card re-issued so if my details are on that list it won't do anyone any good. Especially Apple :)

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1. Monday 10th January 2011 10:18 GMT Pie
  
  you don't have to use a credit card
  
  apple have a walkthrough on how to set up an itunes account without a credit card.
  
  http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2534
  
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  1. Monday 10th January 2011 22:11 GMT M Gale
    
    Re: you don't have to use a credit card
    
    They don't exactly make it obvious. You have to skip registration, buy something then register? Why not just put the "I don't want to give you or any Chinese hackers my bank details" option on the normal registration page? iTunes vouchers not making enough money?
    
    Remember "It Just Works", Steve?
    
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    1. Tuesday 11th January 2011 12:31 GMT Grease Monkey
      
      Eh?
      
      You don't even need an iTunes account to own an iPod so how does owning an iPod mean you have to give Apple your credit card details?
      
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2. Monday 10th January 2011 16:59 GMT qwertyuiop
  
  Shock news!
  
  "if own an iPod you are almost forced to use it!
  
  ermmm... no, actually. I reluctantly bought an iPod a couple of years back because Creative were no longer making a decent sized PMP and haven't used iTunes once. I download music (legally) from a variety of vendors and sync with Media Monkey. Who needs iTunes?
  
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Sunday 9th January 2011 21:55 GMT bradbox

This is going to become more common

These types of articles are going to become more common - social networks and websites that take users' details will have to step up to the mark to ensure processes and procedures are designed with security in mind.

More information in a full post here: http://blog.bradbox.com/data-security-unsexy-now-yet-soon-vital

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Sunday 9th January 2011 21:55 GMT Grantzy

Ban China

Lets push for the UN to ban China from the Internet.Enough recent history to show they cant be trusted to enforce basic international law not to mention their membership to WTO was baseed on conditions that they havent kept.They steel without creating and sharing.SHAME ON YOU CHINA

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1. Monday 10th January 2011 12:31 GMT CD001
  
  WTO
  
  If I remember correctly, and to be fair I'm not entirely sure on this, but didn't the USA breach (and continue to breach) their WTO obligations with the way they deal with online gambling? Should we ban the States from the Internet as well?
  
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  1. Tuesday 11th January 2011 02:20 GMT thecakeis(not)alie
    
    Ban the US from the internet
    
    Pretty Please?
    
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Monday 10th January 2011 10:03 GMT Syntax Error

Stolen Property

Amazing that the company knows the information is stolen. Don't they have laws against seling stolen goods in China?

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Monday 10th January 2011 12:17 GMT Gordon Pryra

No stolen ITunes accounts

The only relevance it itunes is the fact it was the itunes system used to create the accounts.

The accounts were not stolen, but the credits card details backing them were.

The people who had their card details stolen should probably be thankful it was for something as crap as i tunes and not an Amazon or some pr0n site.

if it was Amazon, the "buyers" could get a lot more high value gear, if it was the pr0n site, they would have to explain to their misses how this appeared on their credit card bill.

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Monday 10th January 2011 12:31 GMT taxman

Ban Stolen property

Ban China? Laws against selling stolen goods in China?

What's with all the anti China statements?

What would Jobbies do to expand his Apple Empire if it weren't for China?

No iPods, no iPhones, no iPads..............

No there's a thought for the conspiracy theorists. Something being put in the circuits to transmit data to......No that sor of thing would never happen. Would it?

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