Apple News sends offensive notification to Fast Company followers in apparent hack [U]

Someone identifying as “Thrax” has managed to successfully send an offensive notification to Apple News users through Fast Company’s account.

Evidence of the apparent hack began populating Twitter on Tuesday night as iPhone users posted screenshots confirming the same experience. The offensive notification ended with the message that “Thrax was here”, although it’s currently unclear who this identity is claiming to be.

While it’s not known how exactly this actually happened, it is highly unlike that the Apple News platform was compromised in any way. Given that it’s a single incident from one publisher, it’s more likely that the publisher’s Apple ID specifically was accessed without permission.

If the Fast Company’s Apple ID associated with Apple’s News Publisher web app was somehow accessed, it would be possible to send the alert through the publication’s Apple News profile.

Apple doesn’t directly approve notifications before they’re distributed. The idea is that publications have the same publishing flow as posting on the web. However, it seems apparent in retrospect that Apple News could benefit from applying a filter to certain words before notifications go out to iPhones.

While we’re not including a screenshot of the offensive notification for obvious reasons, you can hunt it down for yourself with a Twitter search.

Update: Apple News has issued a statement via Twitter. It reads, “An incredibly offensive alert was sent by Fast Company, which has been hacked. Apple News has disabled their channel.”

You can also see where the publication’s website was hacked as Apple News referenced.

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