17 Apr He Pled Guilty To Blackmailing Apple. What Really Happened.
This week in cybersecurity from the editors at Cybercrime Magazine
Sausalito, Calif. – Apr. 17, 2026
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Kerem Albayrak from north London threatened to wipe 319 million accounts unless Apple gave him iTunes gift cards worth $100,000 (£76,000), BBC reported in a Dec. 2019 story.
An investigation found that Albayrak had not compromised Apple’s systems. He was given a two year suspended jail sentence and ordered to do 300 hours of unpaid work.
In Mar. 2017, Albayrak emailed Apple’s security team, claiming to have breached millions of iCloud accounts. He posted a video on YouTube that appeared to show him breaking into two accounts. He threatened to sell the account information, dump his database online and reset the accounts, unless Apple paid his iTunes gift card demand. Albayrak also said he would accept $75,000 worth of cryptocurrency, but later increased this to $100,000.
He was arrested at his home in north London about two weeks after sending his threat. Apple investigated his claims but could not find evidence that its systems had been compromised. In addition to the 300 hours of unpaid work, he was given a six month electronic curfew.
The incident was later deemed to be part of a publicity stunt to promote a tool Albayrak was developing.
In a new Cybercrime Magazine Podcast episode Albayrak publicly discusses his side of the story for the first time; he has since gone on to work in cybersecurity.
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