Dallas, Texas-based AT&T Inc., the largest wireless provider in the United States, is under FBI investigation into a security breach that leaked over 100,000 e-mail addresses of its Apple iPad customers.
The breach occurred when a group called Goatse Security hacked AT&T’s Apple iPad subscriber data. The lists obtained included information of several celebrities, corporate executives, and politicians.
According to Gawker Media’s Valleywag website, which obtained the data from Goatse Security, around 140,000 e-mail addresses were compromised.
Among those affected was that of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who downplayed the incident.
“We live in a world where information is available all over the place, and there’s going to be security breaches every day all over the world,” Bloomberg said. “That’s what happens when you have information,” reports NBC news.
The problem had to do with the way AT&T’s website prompted iPad users to log onto their AT&T accounts.
“The FBI is aware of these possible computer intrusions and has opened an investigation to address the potential cyberthreat,” FBI spokesman Jason Pack said.
AT&T, which has exclusive U.S. rights to carry the iPad and the popular iPhone smartphone, has acknowledged the security breach but said it had corrected the flaw and that only e-mail addresses were exposed to hackers who identified a security weakness.
Charlie Miller, an analyst with Independent Security Evaluators, argued that the breach had nothing to do with the iPad’s security.
“The actual vulnerability is pretty basic, but the loss of data is not serious, in my opinion. The data on the iPad and the devices themselves were never compromised or vulnerable,” Miller said via e-mail in a Reuters report.
George Kurtz, chief technology officer for security software company McAfee Inc., also downplayed the severity of the breach.
“I would guess that this application vulnerability gained so much attention because, after all, it is Apple we are talking about,” Kurtz wrote in a blog post.
“The hype around Apple products—like the new iPhone and iPad—is amazing. However, the reality is this type of vulnerability isn’t really news and happens all day long,” he wrote.
Apple has sold more than 2 million iPads since releasing the device in April. Together with the popular iPhone, it will form a pivotal part of the company’s international growth strategy. The launch of the devices helped Apple surpass Microsoft in May to become the world’s most valuable technology company by market capitalization.
AT&T is the largest provider of broadband in the United States with more than 17.5 million high speed Internet subscribers.
It is also the nation’s largest Wi-Fi provider, now offering customers access at more than 125,000 hot spots spanning countries around the world, with the addition of approximately 7,000 Starbucks locations.
The breach occurred when a group called Goatse Security hacked AT&T’s Apple iPad subscriber data. The lists obtained included information of several celebrities, corporate executives, and politicians.
According to Gawker Media’s Valleywag website, which obtained the data from Goatse Security, around 140,000 e-mail addresses were compromised.
Among those affected was that of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who downplayed the incident.
“We live in a world where information is available all over the place, and there’s going to be security breaches every day all over the world,” Bloomberg said. “That’s what happens when you have information,” reports NBC news.
The problem had to do with the way AT&T’s website prompted iPad users to log onto their AT&T accounts.
“The FBI is aware of these possible computer intrusions and has opened an investigation to address the potential cyberthreat,” FBI spokesman Jason Pack said.
AT&T, which has exclusive U.S. rights to carry the iPad and the popular iPhone smartphone, has acknowledged the security breach but said it had corrected the flaw and that only e-mail addresses were exposed to hackers who identified a security weakness.
Charlie Miller, an analyst with Independent Security Evaluators, argued that the breach had nothing to do with the iPad’s security.
“The actual vulnerability is pretty basic, but the loss of data is not serious, in my opinion. The data on the iPad and the devices themselves were never compromised or vulnerable,” Miller said via e-mail in a Reuters report.
George Kurtz, chief technology officer for security software company McAfee Inc., also downplayed the severity of the breach.
“I would guess that this application vulnerability gained so much attention because, after all, it is Apple we are talking about,” Kurtz wrote in a blog post.
“The hype around Apple products—like the new iPhone and iPad—is amazing. However, the reality is this type of vulnerability isn’t really news and happens all day long,” he wrote.
Apple has sold more than 2 million iPads since releasing the device in April. Together with the popular iPhone, it will form a pivotal part of the company’s international growth strategy. The launch of the devices helped Apple surpass Microsoft in May to become the world’s most valuable technology company by market capitalization.
AT&T is the largest provider of broadband in the United States with more than 17.5 million high speed Internet subscribers.
It is also the nation’s largest Wi-Fi provider, now offering customers access at more than 125,000 hot spots spanning countries around the world, with the addition of approximately 7,000 Starbucks locations.
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