Privacy, Security & Virus Information

iPad and AT&T Under Attack

No sooner has it hit the streets than Apple's iPad has had its security boundaries breached, and apparently with considerable ease. Some leading figures in the world of business, politics and entertainment have had their e-mail addresses exposed to all and sundry, causing extreme embarrassment and discomfort to many.

Hackers succeeded in reaching details of no less than 114,000 e-mail address stored on media giant AT&T's website with the Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, among those hit.

According to industry analysts, the virus protection software on the AT&T website was less than adequate, and the successful hackers apparently experienced no difficulty in breaching it. The security breach was apparently discovered by the hackers. On the constant lookout for chinks in online defenses in any form, they noticed that when people who had just taken possession of the new iPad 3G and had signed up with AT&T, hackers that they were capable of detecting the pad's unique SIM's Integrated Circuit Card Identifier (ICC) ID, Once they had done so, they simply integrated the system and succeeded in accessing the owners email address, which could then be used to log-in to the iPad.

In a classic case of locking the stable door after the horse has bolted, AT&T were reported to have to turned the feature off., as well as advising all of their members, who may have been affected by the attack. AT&T has now changed the page to require both the owner's email address as well as a confidential password to be entered for access.

AT&T rushed to point out that no real damage was done as the hackers only succeeded in accessing e-mail addresses and succeeded in getting no further with a company spokesman hastening to point out that there was no serious reason to believe to suspect that any actual hacking took place. What is for sure is that passwords, real names, telephone numbers, dates of birth, and other vital items of personal identification were accessed in this particular attack.

The fact that this high profile piece of software/hardware could be so readily and rapidly compromised is yet another wake-up call that the battle against computer hackers is a relentless one. It may well be that the next attack on iPad security will be more successful, and the price to be paid will be much more severe than a rude awakening. As the internet revolution reaches uncharted waters, no amounts of warnings and near misses should be enough to make computer dependant individuals realize that virus protection software is of the ultimate importance.

 

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