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iPad Privacy Hacked

The vulnerability was reportedly fixed – or at least turned off – Tuesday

By Maureen O'Gara
Article Rating:
June 10, 2010 02:00 AM EDT
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 6,430

AT&T, iPad’s sole US carrier, admitted Wednesday that hackers were able to exploit a security hole in its system and download the e-mail addresses and iPad IDs (ICC-IDs) of 114,067 iPad owners, including military folk, public figures and prominent business types.

Supposedly it was nothing more than that.

The hackers call themselves Goatse Security after a site showing a naked man stretching his anus with both hands to approximately the width of his hand.

The vulnerability was reportedly fixed – or at least turned off – Tuesday before the breach became public knowledge. AT&T said it would contact the people affected.

The New York Times, which spoke to the Goatse people, said the e-mail address included congressional staff, folks at the Justice Department, NASA Homeland Security, VCs, and executive at the Times itself, Dow Jones, Viacom, Time Warner and HBO. CNN added President Obama’s chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

According to the story the Wall Street Journal got from AT&T’s chief security officer Ed Amoroso the beach occurred because AT&T was trying to make it easier for customers to renew subscriptions and pre-entered their e-mail address in a field on its web site so they wouldn’t have to retype it when they renewed.

Apple had nothing to say to anybody.

Gawker, which is not exactly on Steve Jobs’ A list after an e-mail exchange with its drunken reporter not to mention its purchase of the “missing” iPhone prototype, is credited with breaking the story

Published June 10, 2010 – Reads 6,430
Copyright © 2010 SYS-CON Media, Inc. — All Rights Reserved.
Syndicated stories and blog feeds, all rights reserved by the author.

More Stories By Maureen O'Gara

Maureen O'Gara the most read technology reporter for the past 20 years, is the Cloud Computing and Virtualization News Desk editor of SYS-CON Media. She is the publisher of famous "Billygrams" and the editor-in-chief of "Client/Server News" for more than a decade. One of the most respected technology reporters in the business, Maureen can be reached by email at maureen(at)sys-con.com or paperboy(at)g2news.com, and by phone at 516 759-7025. Twitter: @MaureenOGara

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