FBI Investigating AT&T iPad 3G Security Breach

[MacRumors]

TheWall Street Journal reports that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has begun an investigation into the AT&T security breach that resulted in the exposure of emails addresses and SIM identifiers for over 100,000 iPad users signed up for 3G access on its network.

"The FBI is aware of these possible computer intrusions and has opened an investigation," said Katherine Schweit, an FBI spokeswoman. Ms. Schweit said the FBI began the investigation Thursday but wouldn't comment on what the bureau is looking at. "It's very early in the investigation," she added.

Any investigation into the incident is likely to look at two factors: how the information was obtained and what was done with it. Escher Auernheimer, a member of the group that exploited the hole in AT&T's website to obtain the information, claims that nothing illegal was done in collecting the information, as access was obtained simply by entering information into a public website.

As for what the group did with the information between the time of its collection and its sharing of the details with Gawker for publication, the group claims that Gawker was the only outside party to receive the information and that the information was only disclosed once the hole had been closed. While the group has taken some criticism for not directly contacting AT&T about the situation, it claims that it "made sure that someone else tipped them off" and waited for AT&T to fix the issue before going public.

Article Link: FBI Investigating AT&T iPad 3G Security Breach

 

[DylanLikesPorn]

Good! I really hope they throw the book at AT&T's dismal security policies.

 

[mondesi43]

I like the Portal graphics

 

[Schtumple]

Good to hear. Glad the FBI is keeping up with what has happened and is (hopefully) going to do something about it.

 

[RonHC]

Lets blame BP

 

[DotCom2]

They should be investigating their lying ways on the data plan switcheroo as well!

 

[Atkins]

Lets blame BP

or Adobe

 

[aprilfools]

I'm most likely one of the 114,000 so thank you FBI.

The company that hacked into the system says "they didn't do anything wrong".
Well than why did they do it? Idiots. I hope they go down in flames.

 

[kemo]

unbeliveable how can such a big corporation have security issue like this...

 

[RonHC]

unbeliveable how can such a big corporation have security issue like this...

Nobody's perfect

 

[crackbookpro]

Lets blame BP

Not amusing at all.

 

[GFLPraxis]

I'm most likely one of the 114,000 so thank you FBI.

The company that hacked into the system says "they didn't do anything wrong".
Well than why did they do it? Idiots. I hope they go down in flames.

Idiots? They have a valid point, they didn't bypass anything to get the information, I don't even know if you can call it hacking- they just wrote a random number generator.

The fact that they went public with the fact that they did it instead of selling the information tells me that I DON'T want these guys in trouble. They did us a favor by catching the problem.

 

[Illusion986]

Lets blame BP

or Adobe

Its all GIZMODO's fault

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

The FBI is looking into this rather than solve much more serious problems that exist in this country?

 

[crackbookpro]

unbeliveable how can such a big corporation have security issue like this...

It's AT&T. Anything can happen.

 

[notjustjay]

See, when I read between the lines, I wonder if Gawker might have had anything to do with it other than being a neutral third party observer.

But I might be reading too far into it.

 

[AbblePC]

Let me guess, Gawker paid $5,000 to obtain that information called AT&T support and stated they found lost customer data, then afterwards disassembled it to see what they could find.

 

[miles01110]

unbeliveable how can such a big corporation have security issue like this...

Actually it's perfectly believable. "Corporate information security" is more of a dark joke than a reassuring reality.

The FBI is looking into this rather than solve much more serious problems that exist in this country?

Such as?

 

[PBG4 Dude]

The FBI is looking into this rather than solve much more serious problems that exist in this country?

Of course. Someone got Rahm Emmanuel's email. Bloomberg's too. That's a lot of pissed off money and power right there and there's still 113,998+ more people to go. If it was just a bunch of anonymous yucks this would've been swept away with the quickness.

 

[kernkraft]

Nobody's perfect

But AT&T SO was until this!

 

[kdarling]

unbeliveable how can such a big corporation have security issue like this...

Oh, it's very believable. We were just discussing this at work yesterday.

Even big corporations have laid off so many developers, that those who are left are overburdened. They no longer have as much time to test for bugs. I see this every day.

It's no different than the accidentally left-over capture code in Google's vehicles. Goofs like this are not conspiracies. They're just the result of today's "do more with fewer resources" style of management.

With luck, it works most of the time. When it fails... ouch!

Just about any American worker these days should be able to empathize with this.

 

[iPastor]

Gawker (and Gizmodo) Shows Up Again

One thing missing in this picture is Gawker (parent of Gizmodo). They took illegal information, again, and proceeded to share it with the world. Telling us who is using iPads in the White House, Congress, and anyone else of worth. Just to get more hits on their website.

The trouble with Gawker/Gizmodo, is they are like a spoiled child who get's pissed at their parents because they (the child) did something wrong. Gizmodo was in the wrong for how they handled the Apple iPhone situation, and Apple has reprimanded them accordingly by not inviting them to the party this past Tuesday. It's Apple's business who they invite, don't invite, and I don't blame them for keeping Gizmodo at a distance. Gizmodo used illegal, and immoral methods, to obtain and broadcast the iPhone found in a bar. Not only did they show the pics, the dismantled somebody else's product. I teach my kids to treat other people's things with respect, perhaps Gizmodo should follow the same advice.

You see, Gizmodo / Gawker points the finger at Apple for the AT&T security breach, of which I am probably one of those who had their email exposed. The reality is that AT&T bears ALL the responsibility, and Apple none of it. One might argue that Apple is responsible since they partnered with AT&T, but that didn't cause the security breach.

 

[Stately]

Glad they are doing something. Supposedly mayor Bloomberg's email was one of the ones revealed. He says "so what if I get an email I don't want to read, I'll just delete it." Hellloooo, that's not the point. It's a breach of security that dishonest people could use to their advantage. The FBI needs to be right where they are imo.

 

[DotCom2]

This type stuff is what worries me about CLOUD storage.

 

[reubs]

So does this mean it's not entirely Apple's fault? I imagine with this and the new data plans that Apple is pretty pissed off at AT&T right now...