Hackers Send "Incredibly Offensive" Alert to Apple News Users

With a "ridiculously easy" password, they say.

Kick Rocks

Hackers gained access to Apple News push notifications via a business magazine — and sent out a trollish, racist push notification that's as juvenile as it is offensive.

Both Apple News and Fast Company, the site in question, acknowledged in Twitter statements issued that the magazine had been hacked — but it was other users who posted the actual push notifications, which were incredibly not safe for work.

In its statement, Apple News called the push notification "incredibly offensive," and a perusal of the trending topic revealed that that characterization is somewhat of an understatement.

Multiple Twitter users published censored and uncensored versions of the notification, which featured a grave racist slur and a reference to a sex act. The messaged were signed by a "Thrax," which appears to be the chosen name of the still at-large hacker or hackers.

Insult to Injury

Though specifics about the hack have not been released, FastCo did say that its content management system (CMS) had been compromised, which was seemingly how the bad actors gained access to its push alerts. Along with sending out the notification, the hackers also, per a company statement, appear to be related to a Sunday attack in which similarly racist language was published on the FastCo website, which is currently offline.

Prior to company administrators taking down mag's website, the hacker or hackers apparently posted a message detailing how they gained access to the FastCo CMS — by figuring out a "ridiculously easy" password, per screenshots of the hacker statement. The statement included a link to a forum where stolen database information is posted amongst thieves, and as Engadget notes in its write-up of the hack, a user named "Thrax" posted employee information for thousands of FastCo workers.

Websites obviously get hacked all the time — in fact, we've covered a bunch this month alone. But gaining access to push notifications for an Apple property is a big deal, and using it to send hate speech to thousands of unwitting subscribers is particularly egregious.

READ MORE: Fast Company hackers sent out obscene push notifications to Apple News users [Engadget]

Less-shitty hacker news: Anonymous Hacks Iran After Woman Allegedly Killed by "Morality Police"