Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Hackers Release 1 Million iOS Device UDIDs Obtained from FBI Laptop

Well, this will further push apple to implement something that's more secure and more private than the current UDID system.
Tim Cook needs to do something about this. quick.
 
Luckily I live in the UK, so all I have to worry about is my health records getting lost on a train.

Anyway.

The authorities make our business their business, that's not new news. The question is, how did they get all this information in the first place?

Some have speculated it could be a collaboration between Apple and Facebook helping the FBI. The Facebook app has phone numbers and full names already, so if Apple let in a Facebook app that gathered the UDID info from the iPhone they could collect this data for their FBI friends.

Of course it could also just be data directly from Apple due to people registering all their details when they first plug the device into iTunes.

I'd like to know some more definite answers on that front though.
 
Google knows as much about me as the government.

At least the FBI is not sending Ads based on my email everytime I check my email.

Never really liked that google scans my emails for keywords.
 
viewfly said:
Google knows as much about me as the government.

At least the FBI is not sending Ads based on my email everytime I check my email.

Never really liked that google scans my emails for keywords.
Click to expand...

Then use a paid mail service or get a dedicated server or something.
 
jav6454 said:
The first link in the MacRumors articles points toward the pastebin of the hacker's proclamation. That same pastebin contains several links to the file (the one containing all the info of the 1M UDIDs) and where it is hosted (several hosting sites). Then the pastebin also contains instructions on how to properly decrypt and decode the information in the file once downloaded. Several steps to do so. After all that you get a plain text document with the information.
Click to expand...
I couldn't help but notice the hackers properly encrypted the files in 256 with a long hard password, unlike the FBI itself!

The other thing I noticed were the many references by the hackers to freedom fighters we all respect from our "American history". Then of course others in recent news.

The sheer depth of the federal security culture is infathomable and for most folks entirely unavoidable.

The LAAS reference is for all practical purposes real for us all.

This was the tiniest of all leaks and it is still clear.

Rocketman
 
I would imagine FBI or other US govt dept would just have a direct back end feed into Apples systems? I mean effectively they can track anyone anytime who has an iOS device and a Internet connection back to apples systems, with things like find my iPhone being able to provide real time tracking without informing the user..

Question is why do FBI allow sensitive information on a users laptop, or did this employee do so without permission? I think it highlights the importance of people having wads of data on their laptop without appropriate protection of the data. Disk encryption only goes so far, still have the weakest link in the chain to deal with (as always), the end user.
 
doom4 said:
I love it how the US protects their so called "freedom" with methods used in countries like North Korea, China and Belarus. I think the US is far beyond the point where they protect their citizens and are more in controlling them. And guys that has nothing to do with a federal government. 95% of the world has a federal government and far more freedom then you guys have. Being watched and knowing that data is collected about every of my movement for my security would make me question my freedom. Wake up!
Click to expand...

Talk about exaggeration...
 
JS82712 said:
Blaming apple for a stupid FBI agent who uses a dell (lol.) and loses sensitive info, where is your logic, troll.
Click to expand...

I don't think that the fact it was a Dell computer is relevant to the issue at hand. It was a Java vulnerability that was exploited and if I had to guess, I would say that the FBI agent was specifically targeted in order to mine information from him. If he were using a Mac with an un-patched and active Java environment, he would have been just as susceptible.
 
Stu-Pid said:
Good to see that the Tin Foil hat club are out in force today.

What I find hilarious is that so many of you are so concerned that the FBI or government has this data, but you are quite happy to let Apple or some random App developer have this data without it concerning you at all. Not to mention every time when you give this information away freely when buying things online or (in many cases) entering competitions or just surfing the web.

Has it never occurred to you that the government (any government) has access to pretty much every detail of your life, including much more potentially damaging information than is included in this file? They know where you live, your medical history, your DOB, your bank details, your income, your next of kin, spouse, full family history, they know where you go when you leave the country, how much you paid for your house, if you've ever been arrested or charged with any crime, your full employment history, etc etc etc.

If you want privacy then go and live in a tent in the woods, without a job, bank account, phone, or internet connection. Or of course leave the country and go and live in a country where they don't keep such information, but then it would be a 3rd World country which wouldn't offer you most of the freedoms and protection that we all take for granted everyday.

Anyway, I better stop posting now or else they might track me down...
Click to expand...

App developers and Apple collect the information as part of doing business with consumers so I would expect them to have it.

The FBI does no business with me so they should not have this information.
 
Fruit Cake said:
I would imagine FBI or other US govt dept would just have a direct back end feed into Apples systems? I mean effectively they can track anyone anytime who has an iOS device and a Internet connection back to apples systems, with things like find my iPhone being able to provide real time tracking without informing the user..

Question is why do FBI allow sensitive information on a users laptop, or did this employee do so without permission? I think it highlights the importance of people having wads of data on their laptop without appropriate protection of the data. Disk encryption only goes so far, still have the weakest link in the chain to deal with (as always), the end user.
Click to expand...

Again, the FBI should not have this access unless court ordered.
 
Mine wasnt in the file

So I downloaded the file, opened it in the text editor and did a search for my UDID. Not in there. Could well be one of the other 11 million.

This article just goes to show that the government is:

a) collecting information that they should NOT have. Why they need 12 million UDID's is totally beyond me. I can see why they may have suspects UDID info but if there is no reason to have all of them. You can't tell me all 12 million are a suspect in some crime.

b) not able to securely maintain their records. Yet another reason why in this day and age they should keep their information collecting to a minimum.

I have absolutely nothing to hide but could be subject to hacking efforts simply because the government is inept.

----------
Mr. Gates said:
Anyone know where to actually see this list so as to do a simple Control-F search and see if your personal UFID is in the list ?
Click to expand...

I used this link, downloaded the text file and did a CTRL F search.

http://minus.com/l3Q9eDctVSXW3
 
JS82712 said:
Blaming apple for a stupid FBI agent who uses a dell (lol.) and loses sensitive info, where is your logic, troll.
Click to expand...

So you're ok with the FBI somehow getting this information?

We still have no idea on how the FBI got the information.

It may have been:

1. directly from Apple.
2a. It may have been from some dev who collected the information
2b. The FBI gets it from the carrier
3. The FBI may have hacked Apple (AND I DON'T BELIEVE THAT).

1. Then the blame is rather obvious, isn't it?
2a+b. Should Apple be blamed for allowing devs collect and store this kind of information and/or sending the information so that it can be collected by a third party?
3. Should Apple be blamed for lousy security?

Edit: I'm not arguing that Apple is solely to be blamed.
 
Mr. Gates said:
Anyone know where to actually see this list so as to do a simple Control-F search and see if your personal UFID is in the list ?
Click to expand...

http://dazzlepod.com/apple/

----------
craznar said:
4. The FBI retrieved evidence of a crime, then the laptop got nicked.

Sounds like incompetence not a crime.
Click to expand...

How is information from 12,000,000 random iPhone users evidence from a crime?

And the laptop wasn't stolen, it belongs to an FBI agent and it was hacked through a Java exploit.
 
Gasu E. said:
Who said anything about the FBI monitoring you? All it says is that they have a database which may have some information on you. The government has plenty of databases on you already, and you know this. The IRS has one. The Social Security administration has one. There used to be a big database that had lots of information on everyone and was publicly available-- it was called "The Phone Book." It's nothing new. Obviously the FBI maintains all sorts of general population databases, which are helpful in tracking down actual criminal activity when it occurs. It doesn't mean they are monitoring everyone in each database.
Click to expand...

You do not need APNS Tokens unless you are monitoring. This token is not just information in a database, its information that should be protected unless you have a need to know it and authorization to use it. It is for monitoring.

http://developer.apple.com/library/...ionsPG/ApplePushService/ApplePushService.html
 
AaronEdwards said:
So you're ok with the FBI somehow getting this information?

We still have no idea on how the FBI got the information.

It may have been:

1. directly from Apple.
2a. It may have been from some dev who collected the information
2b. The FBI gets it from the carrier
3. The FBI may have hacked Apple (AND I DON'T BELIEVE THAT).

1. Then the blame is rather obvious, isn't it?
2a+b. Should Apple be blamed for allowing devs collect and store this kind of information and/or sending the information so that it can be collected by a third party?
3. Should Apple be blamed for lousy security?

Edit: I'm not arguing that Apple is solely to be blamed.
Click to expand...

The FBI has your social security numbers, fingerprints, and a ton of other sensitive information - UDIDs are the least of our worries.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back