Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share take a hit for the iCloud hacking incident

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By Thomas Copeland on September 4, 2014 Intl News

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) climbed steadily throughout August and eventually hit their all-time peak.

After hitting the peak the share growth stalled this Wednesday when the soon-to-be iPhone and iWatch event that will take place in 9^th September, was overshadowed due to the alarming iCloud hacking news. The stock dropped by 4% in the morning session taking the company shares below the $100 / share for the first time ever since the 19^th of August.

Bad news came for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) when a huge number of celebrity accounts on iCloud were hacked and intimate and highly private pictures were stolen through user passwords and accounts hacking. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) however said that the security breach was just restricted to account hacking; it is believed that iCloud itself might be safe. No matter what Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) says the incident has damaged its customers’ trust and dented the company’s reputation. This security breach could not have come at a worse time because the company was hoping to get promising mobile payments, fitness markets and health shares.

The drop in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price happened when Samsung released its new devices. So both the rivals came in the limelight for completely different reasons.

Samsung (KRX: 005930) also reported its deal with Oculus – Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB)’s acquisition – to produce some sort of a headset for virtual reality that customers can connect with their phones. This headset and other phone devices will be sold this fall; these will be in direct competition with the new products that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will launch this year.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s recent financial analysis was much more sound as compared to Samsung (KRX: 005930)’s report. Both tech giants will have some of the most anticipated devices of the year for their customers. After the security breach it will be interesting to see if Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) can pull itself out of this undesired situation and bask in glory.

Coming back to the targeted hacking of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s users, the company states that this attack was entirely targeted at individuals because the hackers got nowhere inside the infrastructure of the company.

Security researchers suggested that the targeted attacks may be the end product of brute force attacks which is where hackers break into accounts by multiple guessing of passwords thus stopping when they get the right one.

It was believed that the hacking was done through Find my Phone service offered by iPhone that allows the customers to locate their lost phones. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) assured that its software or infrastructure is still secure and the hackers were only able to get hold of user passwords to personal accounts.

As stated earlier the timing for this breach couldn’t have been more wrong with the launch of its new iPhone on the way. Marc Maiffret of the security firm, BeyondTrust says that each new innovation is exciting for the customers but it also brings with it many new opportunities for the bad guys. The FBI is investigating the hacking incident; however it has not made any comment on the issue.