Hackers claim to have accessed and wiped Clinton campaign chief John Podesta's iPhone

Clinton campaign chief John Podesta's iPhone may have been hacked. According to reports, alleged hackers claimed to have accessed Podesta's iCloud account and wiped it, mere hours after the campaign official's Twitter account was hacked. The latest cyberattack comes on the heels of Podesta's sensitive and personal information published online by WikiLeaks.

Several screenshots of what appears to be an iCloud account linked to Podesta's iPhone, were found circulating online late on 12 October, indicating that Podesta's iPhone may have been accessed by hackers. The screenshots popped up online less than 12 hours after WikiLeaks published a fresh batch of Podesta emails, which revealed that his iCloud password was "Runner4567".

A group of 4chan users claimed to have accessed Podesta's iCloud account, using the information included in WikiLeaks' Podesta email dumps, ArsTechnica reported. The alleged hackers also claimed to have remotely wiped the Clinton campaign chief's iPhone and iPad. WikiLeaks, however, has denied reports of Podesta's iPhone having been hacked, claiming that they ensured Podesta's credentials had been changed before leaking them.

Prior to wiping Podesta's iPhone and iPad, the 4chan users allegedly posted a screenshot of the campaign chief's iPhone, located somewhere near the Clinton campaign headquarters in Downtown Brooklyn. The alleged attackers also posted several other screenshots as evidence of the hack. However, it is still uncertain whether the screenshots posted online were in any way modified or altered to pose as belonging to Podesta. Details of the hack have not been independently verified by IBTimes UK.

Security researchers have expressed concern over the validity of the hack. Some researchers speculated that Podesta's Twitter account may have been using the same password that was leaked by WikiLeaks. Yet another theory speculated that Podesta's Twitter and iCloud account may have been linked and may have been accessed by attackers exploiting the password reset feature.

Matt Tait, an independent security researcher who goes by the handle Pwn All The Things on Twitter, expressed concern over the authenticity of the screenshots posted online by the 4chan users. Tait told ArsTechnica, "There may be other accounts that have also been compromised, but there's not enough evidence to corroborate the pictures thus far." Referring to Podesta's iCloud and Twitter accounts, Tait added, "Those are the only two that I know for certain have been compromised by random people on the Internet."

IBTimes UK has reached out to the Clinton campaign for further comment on the alleged hack and will update the article in the event of a response.