The citizens of Australia are currently under attack—a massive cyber-attack targeting all iPhones within the country. Users have been reportedly booted and locked out of their phones by “Oleg Pliss” demanding a $100 USD/EUR ransom to free them of this pinpointed attack.

With the only a few US phones affected, the Ransomeware-based hack appears to work by taking over iCloud accounts associated with disable devices and accessing Apple’s Find My iPhone Service. “Commandeered devices typically emit a loud tone that’s associated with a feature that helps users locate lost or stolen devices. iPhones and iPads also display the message: Device hacked by Oleg Pliss. For unlock device, you need send voucher code by 100 usd/eur (Moneypack/Ukash/PaySafeCard) to email:lock404@hotmail.com for unlock.”

Those with strong passcodes to their iCloud accounts or iDevices appear to be safe, although those who are affected can get out—but with a price. So far, other than paying the $100 USD/EUR ransom, performing a factory reset, which completely wipes all stored data and apps, seem to be the only way out.

So far it remains unclear exactly how the attackers have access to iCloud accounts, or even if this attack is remotely related to the Android OS attack earlier this month. All we know is that people with locked devices should IMMEDIATELY change their credentials for their Apple ID and ensure the two-step verification process is set-up. DO NOT PAY A DIME, contact APPLE immediately!

More instructions via Apple Forms are here.

Apple’s Contact Information: http://support.apple.com/kb/he57