Apple users should be warned as a recent cyber criminal attack has seen users have their phones and tablets held for ransom.
That's according to IT security company ESET, which points out that users have been woken with an alarm-like sound and then a message "Your device has been hacked by Oleg Pliss".
ESET says, for Apple users, this should be a wake-up call, and a push for users to turn on the devices' two-factor authentication for Apple ID credentials.
At present, it has only been users who do not have two-factor authentication switched on that have been a target. Apple's two-factor authentication allows a user to authenticate using a password, a four-digit PIN (verification code) texted to a trusted device at each login, and also generate a 14-digit recovery for emergency.
To Carey van Vlaanderen, CEO of ESET Southern Africa, Apple users should be extra cautious.
She notes that although attacks have been confined to Australia and New Zealand, cyber criminals are not deterred by geography, and the chances are that they will move out of these areas and shift their focus to other countries.
As of yet, there have been no reports of a victim having paid the ransom demand, and if users in SA should receive such a message, they should avoid doing so as there is no reason to think that the criminal would restore your access to the affected device once the ransom is paid, says ESET.
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