Turkey's electronic toll collection app hacked
Turkey's electronic toll collection system’s mobile app was hacked. Users with the app installed on iOS devices received messages containing insults, followed by threats to share their data unless a Bitcoin payment was made.
Duvar English
On Dec. 10, shortly after the hacking of insurance company Anadolu Sigorta's mobile app which sent insulting and threatening messages to customers, a similar breach targeted Turkey’s Post and Telegraph Organization (PTT) electronic toll collection system's, the Fast Pass System (HGS), mobile app.
Hackers compromised the iOS version of the HGS app, sending an initial notification containing profanities.
Two subsequent notifications threatened to share user data unless a payment was made. The message demanded Bitcoins, stating, "If you don't send $25,000 to this BTC address, I will share all your data."
In a statement issued in the evening, PTT General Directorate confirmed the hacking incident but assured that "no data loss or unauthorized access to user information occurred."
"Unauthorized access to the messaging service of our HGS mobile app from abroad was detected in the evening hours, and notifications unrelated to our company were sent to some users," the statement said.
Previously, on Dec. 7, PTT had issued another statement warning that "hackers were attempting fraud using the name of PTT's website."
Meanwhile, Anadolu Sigorta, which faced a similar situation, also issued a statement on Dec. 10 confirming that its mobile application had been targeted by hackers a day before.
The insurance company stated that "no data breach occurred."