--- title: "Hackers Send “Incredibly Offensive” Alert to Apple News Users" description: "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. " date: "2022-09-28" modified: "2022-09-28" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/apple-news-hackers-offensive-alerts" categories: - "Cybersecurity" - "Future Society" - "Hacking" tags: - "apple" - "fast company" - "hackers" - "the digest" --- # Hackers Send “Incredibly Offensive” Alert to Apple News Users ![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. ]() *\Image: Boris Zhitkov via Getty / Futurism\* ## 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"]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()