AT&T Exposes iPhone Customer Information

Not content to let 3G iPad users have all of the fun, AT&T decided to let iPhone users in on the data exposure game. Those jumping on the iPhone 4.0 bandwagon early today may have been shown your iPhone account information during the upgrade process rather than their own.

Ed Hansberry, Contributor

June 16, 2010

2 Min Read
InformationWeek logo in a gray background | InformationWeek

Not content to let 3G iPad users have all of the fun, AT&T decided to let iPhone users in on the data exposure game. Those jumping on the iPhone 4.0 bandwagon early today may have been shown your iPhone account information during the upgrade process rather than their own.Upwards of 114,000 3G iPad users on AT&T's network have at a minimum their email addresses exposed and likely harvested. Until now, iPhone users were missing out on the security breach, as were all WiFi-only iPad users. That changed today for iPhone users.

According to The Next Web, customers have been walking into their local AT&T store to order their iPhone 4 devices and it hasn't gone smoothly. In some cases, they are just taking credit card numbers and phone numbers promising to call back later when the system is functioning smoothly. Seriously, after AT&T's recent track record, people are letting employees write down credit card numbers on Post-It Notes or whatever else they can find.

When the system is running, it still isn't working correctly. In some cases, the AT&T employee would log into their system, which is very similar to the web interface you'd use at home. The fun starts when instead of their data coming up, it is some random iPhone user's account - perhaps yours. Very sensitive information is kept in those screens. Fortunately, it is a one-at-a-time exposure, not thousands at a time, and it is local to the store and that screen, not on the web where Boris the hacker can access it from his computer in some former providence of the USSR

All of that aside, orders were brisk and by 4:30pm Eastern time, all iPhones available for pre-order were spoken for. Anyone placing an order after that will get the device after June 24. No word yet on those that left their credit card number with an employee.

I'd say AT&T has a lot of work to do in the reliability and security departments.

About the Author

Never Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.

You May Also Like


More Insights