Hacked iTunes accounts for sale in China

China's global Times reports that over 500,000 iTunes accounts (each linked to confidential credit card information) were hacked and were being auctioned with prices as low as $30 US through a Chinese auction website, TaoBao. According to the publication, thousands of hacked iTunes accounts has already been sold through this website and this is strictly prohibited and is violating the Apple's terms of services. These hacked accounts can be used to download hundreds and thousands of songs through the iTunes with the original owner's expense and the prices can be very significant. However TaoBao officially stated that they will not be preparing to take actions to resolve these problems until an official request from Apple is issued. Even with over 500,000 users under significant threats, Apple stated that the users should take better responsibility towards their own passwords thus immediate request from Apple to TaoBao is unlikely. Further investigations are being done in order to identify any Canadian victims.

China has recently been a hotbed for internet fraud, including the mass hackings of Gmail. The study states that over $559.7 million US were lost in 2009 due to the internet fraud and the rates of digital misconduct including internet fraud and hacking is predicted to increase in following years. Despite the estimates on digital misconduct rate, the municipal police departments of Canada are not required to maintain cybercrime data while FBI-led study confirms that increased security from the government are essential.

In my opinion, it is extremely problematic to have increasing number of digital misconduct which is affecting great number of internet users negatively. iTunes is one of the biggest application on the web today and holds millions of users and their private information. Although I am not familiar with the method, these information and user accounts are being stolen and sold in China. Buying an iTunes account for as low as $30 US and purchasing hundreds and thousands of songs with the original owners' credits is a serious crime. Stricter and much more rigid regulations and immediate actions to resolve and prevent further problems are essential. Apple must act immediately in order to protect the security, credibility and privacy of their users in order to keep up with their reputation as the largest and legitimate online music market.

World Wide Web, also known as internet, is the biggest social network which exists in this world and holds almost 2 billion users. Moreover, there are millions of different applications on the web which holds private information that can be critical if exposed such as credit card and personal information. According to the experts, it is evident that as the number of users and usage of the web is increasing, the number of internet misconducts is increasing as well. Thus, stronger security level should be applied on each websites which hold any types of private information and the government must develop much more effective cyber regulations in order to prevent and stop the crimes that are happening through online. Physical violence, theft, and fraud are not the only crimes. In fact, the number of thefts, frauds, over-pricing above the price ceiling and many other illegal activities being done online has already exceeded the number of physical crimes as the technology and cyber network are developing rapidly. 21st century is a new era of technology and in order to use such convenient and beneficial resources such as internet, definite assurance of safety should be given to every user for a clean and adequate environment.

http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2011/01/07/hacked-itunes-accounts-sale-china.html