The hacker group Hackulous has apparently figured out how to install and run unauthorised apps by copying the receipt files from a free app just hours after the Mac App store opened for business.
In a report on AppleInsider, it said that following yesterday’s launch of the Mac App store a “simple cut-and-paste workaround had been discovered that illegally ‘cracks’ some paid apps”.
“Crackers apparently found that replacing the receipt and signature files in some paid app packages, which can be downloaded from third-party sites, with the receipt from a free app, allows the app to run in some cases,” said the site.
Apparently, Hackulous, which already cracked Apple’s Digital Rights Management system for iOS, is behind the security attacks and has developed a program called Kickback so that pirates will be able to pirate any apps from the Mac App Store without spending a penny.
The Dissident speaks
One member known as Dissident gave an interview to Gizmodo yesterday, where he said Hackulous won’t be making the software available yet.
“We don’t want to release kickback as soon as the (Mac App) Store gets released. I have a few reasons for that.
“Most of the applications that go on the Mac App Store (in the first instance) will be decent, they’ll be pretty good. Apple isn’t going to put crap on the App Store as soon as it gets released. It’ll probably take months for the App Store to actually have a bunch of crappy applications and when we feel that it has a lot of crap in it, we’ll probably release Kickback.
“So we’re not going to release Kickback until well after the store’s been established, well after developers have gotten their applications up. We don’t want to devalue applications and frustrate developers,” affirmed Dissident.
