It is no secret that any website is vulnerable to attack from a rouge programmer or group of them. Earlier today several news agencies reported that the iTunes App Store was “hacked” resulting in the developer of several poorly written applications gaining a spot on the top of iTunes top apps chart by committing fraud using compromised user accounts. As this situation continues to unfold it is beginning to look less like an actual attack against iTunes. It simply appears to be a select group of individuals who have had unauthorized access to their accounts.

Acts of this type happen on a daily basis. In the modern age of fast flowing information users fall susceptible to scams such as phishing very easily. Users also are not well off when it comes to the process of creating passwords. Statistically speaking, most users on the Internet use common phrases or guessable answers when it comes to the passwords that they use with their accounts. A lot even use the same weak password for everything so it is no secret that often times there will be those that cry out about people compromising their account.

When an attacker gains unauthorized access to an user account they may not always use it themselves. Often times large lists of passwords can be found floating around the Internet for sale to the highest bidder. These lists also can be chopped up and sold to different individuals who all share bad motives. The larger a website gets, the likelihood of people using malicious means of benefitting themselves also gets larger. With the size of the iTunes App Store there is the chance of fraud being committed on it everyday.

There is no official word yet from Apple regarding the incident, but it is a holiday so I doubt we would see it until Tuesday. Even without the report, it still seems unlikely that an actual exploit was gained access to within iTunes resulting in “hacking” occurring. This brings me to the point of this blog post. I believe that this word is being too easily used and as a result it is causing mass hysteria. This whole incident is really blown out of proportion. Unless there is actual exploitation of the iTunes stores backend I do not see how simple fraud committed by an individual can constitute the use of the word “hacking.”

Do not take this the wrong way. I am not saying that Apple is not vulnerable. Any large company is. With the size that they are there is always the possibility of an exploit within hundreds of thousands if not millions of line of code that the store is built upon, but I think media companies should really do a better job at investigating before they report such an occurrence. There is no need for mass panic if there is no actual exploit. Just some weak passwords at use. The best suggestion would be to change passwords and move on. As MacRumors.com said, they get reports of “hacked” accounts every now and then, but there is no reason to make a big fuss out of it.

Those that have known me for a long time know that I am what is known as an “Apple Fanboy,” but more specificly I am a Mac OS X “fanboy.” – While I do enjoy the devices such as the iPhone, iPod Touch, and the iPad that Apple develops I do not own any them even though they are nice looking devices. Since the end of WWDC 2010 a frustration has been growing within me in regards to Apple and with recent rumors that Apple is considering renaming Mac OS X I thought I would write down a few of these frustations to get them out of the way.

The most prominent thing that is currently bothering me in regards to Apple is how Mac OS X and the Macintosh computer in particular is starting to become neglected. Now there has been rumors and I have noticed some hints while watching the session videos from last WWDC, but there is little acknowledgement made by Apple about the next major release of Mac OS X. In fact, this neglect got so out of hand that I went as far as sending an E-Mail to Steve Jobs. Amazingly I did get a response and it simply said that “No, just not the stars of every event anymore. “ – Speaking about the Mac that is.

Now it is understable that the mobile phone market is the current fad for technology companies, but Apple really should rethink their priorities because they are basically giving the middle finger to the users that helped them recover from near bankruptcy by buying their computers. Hopefully this is all just a phase of mentality for them and that it will blow over quickly, but it does seem that they are letting success get to them. Apple was a much better brand when they were the underdog scratching and clawing its way to the top by being the most innovate.

Speaking of innovation the renaming of Mac OS X as mentioned above into iOS is not what I deem innovate on Apple’s part. Now these are only rumors and they should be treated as such, but if Apple would seriously consider to do a rename I think I would have lost all respect for them by then. Is Steve Jobs redoing past mistakes? This blog post was really an oppritunity for me to vent, but maybe an Apple employee or Steve Jobs himself will see it. If that is the case then try and listen to my advice when I say you are moving in the wrong direction Apple. Go back to your grass roots of being the underdogs not the topdogs. You were more innovate and in touch with the community that you helped foster in those times.