Hackers in Ireland Trying to Buy Apple Employee Logins

Ireland has a new problem to throw at Apple: hackers are trying to buy company logins from employees. In some cases, employees are being offered upwards of €20,000 (about US$22,245) in efforts to coax out user names and passwords.

Hackers ready to buy Apple employee loginsHackers ready to buy Apple employee logins

An Apple employee told Business Insider, "You'd be surprised how many people get on to us, just random Apple employees. You get emails offering you thousands [of euros] to get a password to get access to Apple."

Hackers are reportedly also targeting Apple employees for company information.

Exactly what hackers expect to accomplish once they have logins isn't clear. They may be trying to conduct industrial espionage, dig up personal information, disrupt company plans, or something else entirely.

Getting into Apple's network isn't as easy as getting at an employee user name and password. First, employees have limited access to company data. Second, Apple uses more than just user names and passwords to grant network access; without the rest of the necessary login components, getting at a user name and password won't get hackers into the system.

Still, hackers seem to think getting basic network account login information holds a lot of value. ""I could sell my Apple ID login information online for €20,000 tomorrow," Business Insider's source said. "That's how much people are trying."

Apple has a system in place to educate employees and help prevent login theft, which sounds like a prudent move considering how badly hackers what those credentials.