AT&T iPad leak

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June 9th, 2010 - Posted by Kent

A group of activist-hackers has disclosed a security breach that revealed the email addresses and subscriber authentication sim card IDs (known as ICC-IDs) of 144,000 iPad 3G owners. Gawker is reporting that a French hacking outfit called Goatse Security made the discovery. They performed the initial hack. And while they did notify AT&T, which closed the security hole, they apparently made it available to third parties (nice one, guys). The hack was carried out via a script that the group wrote and used on AT&T's website.

Many of these 144,000 early adopters are famous and important people: celebrities, movie moguls, members of the military, and possible White House Chief of Staff Rham Emanuel. And while this all seems very dire, here are some reasons why it might be much ado about nothing:

1. Gawker Media, which has the exclusive story, has an axe to grind with Apple because they bought a lost-and-found iPhone and leaked details. Apple, in return, created problems for Gawker Media and won't invite them to press events anymore. So they want to create bluster. In fact, their headline blames Apple for the leak, even though it happened on AT&T's website.
2. Email addresses really aren't that private. And no one's really sure that the authentication IDs really have any value.
3. While the data was exposed to a third party (which is pretty bad form when you discover a leak), it's still a little hypothetical. Yes, it could have happened, but did anyone exploit it? We don't know that the data went to any nefarious individuals.

Which is not to say it's great news for those who had their email addresses uncovered. But it's also a good reminder of just how vulnerable our information can be. You can help protect your identity by investing in an identity theft protection service.