Apple developer center hacked

[UPDATE] A Turkish security researcher, Ibrahim Balic, has claimed responsibility for the hack, according to a report at The Guardian. Balic insisted that he perpetrated the hack to demonstrate that Apple's system was in fact leaking user information.

The original story is below.

Apple has taken down its developer website following a hacking attempt that potentially exposed names, physical mailing addresses, and email accounts.

In a statement on the site titled "We'll be back soon," Apple explained that this hacking attempt was detected on Thursday.

"Last Thursday, an intruder attempted to secure personal information of our registered developers from our developer website. Sensitive personal information was encrypted and cannot be accessed, however, we have not been able to rule out the possibility that some developers' names, mailing addresses, and/or email addresses may have been accessed," the statement reads.

"In the spirit of transparency, we want to inform you of the issue. We took the site down immediately on Thursday and have been working around the clock since then."

Apple explained that in order to prevent a similar security threat in the future, the company is "completely overhauling" its developer systems, updating server software, and rebuilding its entire database.

"We apologize for the significant inconvenience that our downtime has caused you and we expect to have the developer website up again soon," the statement reads.

Developers with program memberships set to expire during the period will have their accounts extended, Apple said. No indication as to when the portal will reopen has been given.