Apple suspends phone-based password reset following hack of ‘Wired’ writer

Apple has confirmed that it has suspended over-the-phone password resets for its Apple IDs following the identity theft of Wired reporter Mat Honan.

Wired reported on Tuesday that Apple would be stopping the service for at least 24 hours, and at the time of writing, it seems that the suspension is still in place.

Bloomberg reports that the suspension will remain in place until Apple has determined a new procedure for reseting passwords over the phone. Apple issued a statement this morning, asking customers to instead use their online system, iforgot.apple.com.

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The move comes after the hacking of Wired reporter Mat Honan last weekend, which resulted in the erasure of all data on his iPhone, iPad and MacBook when the hackers managed to get access to his Apple ID. The hackers called Apple's customer support line and asked for the password to be reset, then went about remotely wiping all of his Apple devices.

Honan's Twitter account (@mat) was also taken over by the hackers, which is what Honan says was their ultimate goal. He blames not using two-factor authentication on his Gmail account, as much of the destruction would have been prevented if the hackers had been unable to infiltrate his email.

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Hackers used the same exploit to get into Honan's Amazon account. As a precaution against further attacks, Amazon is no longer allowing customers to make changes over the phone, which includes email and credit card information.

Honan knows how all this was done because the individual who claimed responsibility, who identifies himself as Phobia, contacted Honan on Twitter and explained how he did it. You can read the full explanation here.