AT&T Inc. acknowledged Wednesday that a security hole in its website had exposed iPad users’ email addresses, a breach that highlights how corporations still have problems protecting private information.
A small group of computer experts that calls itself Goatse Security claimed responsibility for the intrusion, saying the group had exploited an opening in AT&T’s website to find numbers that identify iPads connected to AT&T’s mobile network.
Those numbers allowed the group to uncover 114,000 email addresses of thousands of iPad customers, including prominent officials in companies, politics and the military, the group said. Gawker Media LLC reported the breach Wednesday. It doesn’t appear any financial or billing information was made public.
AT&T, the sole U.S. provider of wireless service for the Apple Inc. tablets, said it had fixed the security problem by Tuesday. It said it would inform all customers whose email addresses and iPad IDs may have been obtained. Apple didn’t reply to requests for comment.
“At this point, there is no evidence that any other customer information was shared,” AT&T said. “We take customer privacy very seriously, and while we have fixed this problem, we apologize to our customers who were impacted.”
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Date: June 10, 2010