Apple iCloud at risk of organised network attacks

Apple has confirmed its iCloud service could be subject to organised network attacks, although the vendor said they won't compromise the cloud storage service's servers, whether used on mobile, tablet or computer.

The company released a support statement on its website, advising users to pay attention when logging into the service. If a certificate warning appears, telling a person the site is unsafe, it's important not to ignore the warning and enter a username and password.

Apple said: "We're aware of intermittent organized network attacks using insecure certificates to obtain user information, and we take this very seriously. These attacks don't compromise iCloud servers, and they don't impact iCloud sign in on iOS devices or Macs running OS X Yosemite using the Safari browser.

"The iCloud website is protected with a digital certificate. If users get an invalid certificate warning in their browser while visiting www.icloud.com, they should pay attention to the warning and not proceed. Users should never enter their Apple ID or password into a website that presents a certificate warning."

The service has already been targeted by hackers in China believed to be the government, trying to steal user credentials according to a Chinese web monitoring group Greatfire.org that conducts research on Chinese internet censorship.

Only those using the service in China reported such issues, but it does show that the attack can take place anywhere.

The website said hackers attempted to perform a man-in-the-middle" (MITM) attack, which sandwiches a fake site in between the user's position and the Apple website, asking them to input login details.

However, Apple has denied the allegations despite sending out the support statement.