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Welcome to the Cloud - "Your Apple ID has been disabled."

hanselman.com

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Re: Welcome to the Cloud - "Your Apple ID has been disabled."

#41

Post by ajross »

robflynn wrote: post #6

Something similar happened to me a while back. I noticed that several smiley face/emoticon applications had been downloaded using my account. They removed my credit card from my account and drained my iTunes gift card. Apple caught the problem and e-mailed me to ask if it was me. I told them no. They disabled my account, refunded the gift card money, and asked me to write them once I was satisfied that my computer wa…

No doubt because you reused the non-trivial password and someone read it out of a stolen database.

Password strength is a red herring. Password reuse is a far bigger problem then weak passwords.

Re: Welcome to the Cloud - "Your Apple ID has been disabled."

#42

Post by robflynn »

ajross wrote: post #41
robflynn wrote: post #6

Something similar happened to me a while back. I noticed that several smiley face/emoticon applications had been downloaded using my account. They removed my credit card from my account and drained my iTunes gift card. Apple caught the problem and e-mailed me to ask if it was me. I told them no. They disabled my account, refunded the gift card money, and asked me to write them once I was satisfied that my computer wa…

No doubt because you reused the non-trivial password and someone read it out of a stolen database. Password strength is a red herring. Password reuse is a far bigger problem then weak passwords.

It was a password that I only used with iTunes, or at least, I thought it was. You may be correct. I'm more vigilant with my passwords these days.

Re: Welcome to the Cloud - "Your Apple ID has been disabled."

#44

Post by pheroku »

shanselman wrote: post #17

OK, let's make this a movement. Tell me your stories: http://myappleidhasbeendisabled.tumblr.com

Is this paid for by your employer, Microsoft or are you just doing this for fun?

Apologies for the blunt question, but you've often run anti-Google, anti-Apple stories and are well known as a 'kept blogger'.

Re: Welcome to the Cloud - "Your Apple ID has been disabled."

#45

Post by Splines »

AllenKids wrote: post #34
shanselman wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am blaming Apple for: * the fact they "allow the purchase first" and "warn later." * their warning email has no fraud or dispute mechanism * I've never purchased a game like this so they my usage pattern should be a red flag Apple should have fraud systems as powerful and convenient as VISAs.

I can sympathize with you. But even suspect credit fraud is also "purchase first" "warn later". Refusing to let a new device purchase anything without a thorough check is a ridiculous idea. But I do agree that as the iTunes store grows, the anti-fraud mechanism should be vastly improved along the way. IIRC Apple just began to send those emails out to remind costumers of suspicious activity due to rampant credit card…

I can sympathize with you. But even suspect credit fraud is also "purchase first" "warn later". Refusing to let a new device purchase anything without a thorough check is a ridiculous idea.

They could always do something like what Steam does - the first time you try to buy something with a new device, you must enable it by typing in a code that is emailed to you.

Apple's new-device-detection algorithm doesn't seem to be perfect - I was vacationing and bought an app, and it was flagged as a new device (I got the mail for my purchase), despite it being the same one I've been using for a few years.

Re: Welcome to the Cloud - "Your Apple ID has been disabled."

#46

Post by Splines »

troymc wrote: post #29
YooLi wrote: post #24

I removed my credit card from iTunes a while ago when the first of the "my iTunes account has been stolen" stories was breaking. I just fill the account with iTunes gift cards instead. It's a minor inconvenience to have to keep track of how much gift card credit there is, but the cards are available everywhere in the US (gas stations, Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, etc.) If the account ever does somehow get compromised, th…

I don't have an iOS device, but I do use iTunes on my Mac and Windows desktops. About a month ago, I wanted to rent a movie on iTunes (as a test), but my iTunes balance was $0, so I tried to figure out how to tell iTunes my credit card information. I couldn't find any way to do that. Maybe it's not possible? It was frustrating but my solution was just to buy a $15 iTunes gift card when I was grocery shopping at Safew…

You probably are even less interested in adding your credit card, but if you want, there's a "Payment Information" section if you click on the "Account" button dropdown by your apple id in iTunes.

I just changed my password to one more unique (I was reusing it elsewhere), and finding the place to do so was surprisingly hard to find (IMO, it's harder than adding payment information).

Re: Welcome to the Cloud - "Your Apple ID has been disabled."

#47

Post by radicalbyte »

Given Apple's security practises are more Microsoft-2001 than Microsoft-2011, I'd hazard a guess that there's some sort of 0-day exploit hitting iOS devices themselves.

Scott's not dumb though to fly without antivirus/firewalls on his own PCs.

Your iPad/iPhone, on the other hand, are almost certainly running no antivirus and no firewall. Because who needs such inconveniences, eh?

Re: Welcome to the Cloud - "Your Apple ID has been disabled."

#48

Post by dasil003 »

glhaynes wrote: post #38
dasil003 wrote: post #26

Since this apparently came from China, has anyone considered the possibility that it could be an inside exploit?

While Apple's hardware is built in China, iTunes and the App Store are not.

So you don't think hardware knowledge could provide vectors for software exploits?

Re: Welcome to the Cloud - "Your Apple ID has been disabled."

#49

Post by shinratdr »

Splines wrote: post #45
AllenKids wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can sympathize with you. But even suspect credit fraud is also "purchase first" "warn later". Refusing to let a new device purchase anything without a thorough check is a ridiculous idea. But I do agree that as the iTunes store grows, the anti-fraud mechanism should be vastly improved along the way. IIRC Apple just began to send those emails out to remind costumers of suspicious activity due to rampant credit card…

I can sympathize with you. But even suspect credit fraud is also "purchase first" "warn later". Refusing to let a new device purchase anything without a thorough check is a ridiculous idea. They could always do something like what Steam does - the first time you try to buy something with a new device, you must enable it by typing in a code that is emailed to you. Apple's new-device-detection algorithm doesn't seem to…

> Apple's new-device-detection algorithm doesn't seem to be perfect - I was vacationing and bought an app, and it was flagged as a new device (I got the mail for my purchase), despite it being the same one I've been using for a few years.

I have had this happen with Steam countless times, it's made me hate the Steam Guard system. I have a long complex password for Steam and I don't play online so my account isn't high risk at all.

However I use a number of different browsers on different machines and reset them frequently. As a result, almost every purchase I've made through a browser from Steam since that system was implemented has required me re-authenticating the "new device".

Personally, I'm not a fan. I'm positive it would get an even worse reception from the general public, too. Steam users aren't necessarily savvy but they are typically willing to jump through technical hoops for a particular endgame. I wouldn't say the same for iOS users, by and large.

This is a tricky one. Increasing security without adding complexity or alienating users that have grown used to the current system is very difficult. I'm not ready to jump all over Apple for this, it's not a problem with an obvious & popular solution that they are just choosing to ignore, this is something every company in the world is struggling with right now and they all have a different way of combatting it, each with their own unique pros and cons.

Re: Welcome to the Cloud - "Your Apple ID has been disabled."

#50

Post by [deleted] »

pheroku wrote: post #44
shanselman wrote: post #17

OK, let's make this a movement. Tell me your stories: http://myappleidhasbeendisabled.tumblr.com

Is this paid for by your employer, Microsoft or are you just doing this for fun? Apologies for the blunt question, but you've often run anti-Google, anti-Apple stories and are well known as a 'kept blogger'.

[deleted]
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