Top10VPN.com has published a study on hacking tools available on the dark web. It found that Apple hacking tools, as well as others, are readily available for purchase.
[Apple is Making iPhone Hacking A Lot More Difficult for Law Enforcement with iOS 11.4]
Apple Hacking Tools
In an email they sent to me, they shared that some of the hacking tools are very cheap, going for US$2 or less each. Cheap ones are phishing pages for brands like Apple, PayPal, Facebook, and Netflix. All-in-one hacking toolkits can be purchases for around US$125, still fairly cheap for these sorts of things.
Simon Migliano, Head of Research at Top10VPN.com, says:
With state-ordered cyber breaches frequently hitting the news agenda, it’s easy to forget that the majority of hack attacks aren’t particularly sophisticated or carried out by shady organizations…With more and more people suffering cyber attacks every year, it’s clear that this affordable market for hacking tools is catalyzing a higher incidence of more everyday hacks. The perception that hacks are purely the territory of techy bedroom warriors or organizations like Anonymous is increasingly a thing of the past – and all consumers need to be aware of that.
There’s a derogatory term for these kinds of hackers who have little knowledge of these tools: script kiddies. Tools like these are designed for script kiddies in that they are easy to use and don’t require deep knowledge of programming or computer security. Many of them only require clicking a single button (years ago, in my computer security college class, we learned about one such tool called the Low Orbit Ion Cannon).
[How to Protect Yourself from Phishing Scams, and How to Recover if You Get Hooked]