iPad hackers caught, charged

Posted on 19 Jan 2011 at 11:07

Two US citizens have been charged with computer misuse offences after exploiting a security flaw that resulted in 114,000 e-mail addresses belonging to iPad owners on the AT&T mobile network being disclosed without their permission.

Proof of the leak, which was supplied to various news outlets back in June last year, came from a group of hackers known as Goatse Security - named for a famous Internet shock site - in the form of a list of e-mail addresses and SIM-card numbers for a range of celebrities and government employees.

Despite protesting that their actions were benign, designed to draw attention to AT&T's security flaw in the hopes they would fix it and prevent a more serious breach in the future, two members of Goatse Security have now been arrested and are being charged with conspiracy to access a computer without authorisation and general fraud.

The two security researchers, Andrew Auernheimer - also known as 'Escher' - and Daniel Spitler, face a maximum sentence of up to five years for each count, with US prosecutors likely to push for a custodial sentence given the number of accounts leaked.

In its prosecution filing, the FBI - which carried out the original investigation into the breach - claims that the pair's actions were carried out "for the express purpose of causing monetary and reputational damage to AT&T, and monetary and reputational benefits [for themselves.]"

Author: Gareth Halfacree

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User comments

AT+T Punishes Helpers

So the next time someone dicovers a flaw in Corporate security, remember - keep quiet and sell your info at a huge profit - might as well get arrested for actually doing something bad, rather than get punished for trying to help. Remember kids, this is how corporations deal with you!

By Wilbert3 on 24 Jan 2011