MacITT, Apple Matters and iPhone Matters, three Apple and Mac related information Web sites, were seemingly defaced by a hacker Monday night. The regular site contents was replaced with a message about “excessive Apple fanboism.” In the end, however, it turned out the defacing was merely a publicity stunt. 
Three Apple related Web sites were defaced over night.
The three sites were defaced by what appears to be the same person bearing a message that most likely was not approved stating “This website has been flagged for excessive Apple fanboism, and has been taken down for 24 hours. This is a message to the rest of the Mac community, so listen up. Ever heard of hubris? Tone it down, and you will not be attacked. Everyone else is open game.”
This isn’t the first time the mystery hacker has defaced an Apple related Web site, and based on the message, probably won’t be the last. The acts could, however, ultimately prove to be more of a headache than a bragging tool — defacing the Web sites most likely violated some laws, and eventually the long arm of the law could reach out and smack this hacker down.
Update
Later in the day Hadley Stern of Apple Matters revealed that the sites in fact weren’t hacked and defaced, but instead were part of a publicity stunt to help attract attention to his Web sites.
The good news is that the Web sites weren’t hacked. The bad news is that the stunt could potentially have a negative impact on the companies that provide services for the sites — including back end hosting, server applications, and site advertising services. Even though none of the support companies were involved in the stunt, it still could appear that the host services and applications offered inadequate security protection, and that the ad host company was in some way involved, too.
If it turns out that all of the Web sites that were defaced by the same supposed hacker were all participating in a publicity stunt, hopefully today marked the end of the campaign.