FBI investigating AT&T iPad security breach

FBI investigating AT&T iPad security breach

www.msnbc.msn.com

NEW YORK - The Federal Bureau of Investigation has opened a probe into a security breach of Apple's iPad that exposed personal information of AT&T customers.

"The FBI is aware of these possible computer intrusions and have opened an investigation to address the potential cyber threat," FBI spokesman Jason Pack said Thursday.

AT&T acknowledged the security breach on Wednesday but said only e-mail addresses were exposed to hackers who identified a security weakness.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
news.yahoo.com

I just caught this on the tv news.

So far they know of 114,000 owners of the Apple iPad have had

their email addresses exposed after hackers breached a soft spot on the

AT&T 3G wireless network.

The list of exposed accounts includes a few government officials, and

hollywood stars. They know for sure that email address were exposed,

whether anything else was accessed remains

under investigation.

www.msnbc.msn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 10-6-2010 by InvisibleObserver]

reply to post by InvisibleObserver

Unfortunately, the FBI is not exactly adept at investigating anything. Their latest fiasco was letting Joran Van Der Sloot leave the US, AFTER he tried to extort $250,000 from the Natalee Holloway family, in return for telling them where Natalee's body is. These are also the same clowns that didn't see a problem with an Arab that was in flight school and didn't want to learn how to land a plane, only steer it.
They're probably spending most of their time investigating people who support the Arizona law, as well as investigating other "political crimes" against the left-wing agenda of the present administration.

reply to post by ProfEmeritus


You hit the nail right on the head there.

Well done sir.

According to CNN, they reported this morning that AT&T had fixed the security hole last night.

money.cnn.com...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- AT&T said late Wednesday that it has fixed a security hole that may have allowed hackers to access the e-mail addresses of more than 100,000 iPad 3G owners. The announcement came shortly after tech and gossip blog Gawker posted an expose of the breach. A hacker group used a vulnerability on AT&T's website to harvest the e-mail addresses iPad buyers provided to activate their devices, which went on sale barely more than a month ago.

What I find hilarious about all of this is that you get the very rare occaion to see ...AT&T, Security, Fixed... all in the same sentence at the same time under the impression of positive outcome.

HAHA! AT&T and Security are like oximoronic wordzes.

Originally posted by InvisibleObserver

I just caught this on the tv news.

So far they know of 114,000 owners of the Apple iPad have

been hacked on the AT&T 3G wireless network.

The list of hacked accounts include government officials.

They know for sure that

email address were exposed, the investigation is still on going.

www.msnbc.msn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 10-6-2010 by InvisibleObserver]

Let's be clear.... No accounts have been hacked...

114k users email addresses were exposed... Huge difference!

The FBI's way of saying "we do good work and we do it for the people"

Alas AT&T stole their thunder in fixing the leak.
Why did the FBI need to come in for this anyway ? I never seen them jump in for Microsoft and investigate security problems for them!?

Thanks for that HunkaHunka,

As I stated and the links stated AT&T system was hacked, and personal email addresses were exposed.

Breach.....Hack.....same thing...Gain access to (a computer file or network) illegally or without authorization=Hacked.

hack

v. hacked, hack·ing, hacks 1. To cut or chop with repeated and irregular blows: hacked down the saplings. 2. To break up the surface of (soil). 3. a. Informal To alter (a computer program): hacked her text editor to read HTML. b. To gain access to (a computer file or network) illegally or without authorization: hacked the firm's personnel database. 4. Slang To cut or mutilate as if by hacking: hacked millions off the budget. 5. Slang To cope with successfully; manage: couldn't hack a second job.

www.thefreedictionary.com...

reply to post by HunkaHunka


www.msnbc.msn.com...

The breach, first reported by the website Gawker, occurred when a group calling itself Goatse Security hacked into AT&T's iPad subscriber data, obtaining a list of e-mail addresses that also included celebrities, chief executives and politicians.

news.yahoo.com...

An AT&T Web site could be tricked into revealing an iPad owner's e-mail address when supplied with a code associated with their particular iPad. A hacker group that calls itself Goatse Security said it got the site to cough up more than 114,000 e-mail addresses by guessing which codes would be valid.

[edit on 10-6-2010 by InvisibleObserver]

reply to post by Rafe_


I think the FBI jumped in because Rahm Emanuel and a few other government officials names were on the list along with a few hollywood celebrities.

Well, I am really glad that I haven't bought an iPad yet.....

I don't want to pay $600 for an over-sized iPod. Let's hope the price goes down, and the security improves!

[edit on 10-6-2010 by BattleStarGal]

reply to post by HunkaHunka



Oops I didn't mean to say that one part like that, I will edit it.

You ever try and get a news thread started? Its like pulling teeth to get it to go through.

Ok, so it is technically a hack based on what Goatse did. They went to AT&T's website and found a vulnerability there. They were able to input random strings of CCD numbers which returned associated emails. They did this by looking at what makes up a CCD number (SIM CHIP number) for iPhones and iPads and they were able to randomly input those numbers and return the associated email address.

If they werent being upfront about the security hole on the web, they could have used that information to create nightmarish social scenarios for the victims. As well, they could have easily sold those addresses and CCD numbers to ad marketing companies for a hefty fee and the victim would certainly be in for a world of inbox and iPad pain.

So, yes it was a hack, but it was not as bad as say ID Theft or Virus Injections.

Originally posted by InvisibleObserver
reply to post by Rafe_

 

I think the FBI jumped in because Rahm Emanuel and a few other government officials names were on the list along with a few hollywood celebrities.

I agree. As I have heard it put, it was only popularized in the media because it had so many "A" list names on it from fortune 500, US Gov, US Military, and stars.

reply to post by wheresthetruth


Yea if these were just the run of the mill people who had their info looked at the feds probably wouldn't give 2 #'s to the case, but since it was ol Rahm and other people in power or the big screen, well then they better get on it just in case more than email addresses were looked at.

Follow up to the story,

The FCC is now getting in on the action.

www.foxnews.com...

FCC to Boost Web Security After iPad Security Breach

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission said it would step up scrutiny of online security and privacy issues following recent security breaches involving Apple's iPad and Google Inc's collection of private data by its Street View cars.

The FCC announcement on Friday comes one day after the Federal Bureau of Investigation said it had opened a probe into a security breach of the iPadthat exposed personal information of AT&T Inc customers, including several high-ranking government officials. The breach, first reported by the website Gawker, occurred when a group calling itself Goatse Security hacked into AT&T's iPadsubscriber data, obtaining a list of email addresses that also included celebrities, chief executives and politicians.

In a blog posting, Joel Gurin, chief of the FCC's consumer and governmental affairs bureau, said the incident appeared to be a classic security breach that has happened to many companies. "Our Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau is now addressing cybersecurity as a high priority," Gurin said.The communications regulatory agency will seek to ensure that broadband networks are safe and secure, he said. "We're committed to working with all stakeholders to prevent problems like this in the future," he said.

AT&T, which has exclusive U.S. rights to carry the iPadand the popular iPhone, has acknowledged the security breach but said it has corrected the flaw and that only email addresses were exposed to hackers who identified a security weakness. The iPad breach is just the latest incident involving privacy concerns at a high-profile company.