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iPad e-mail leak reveals 114,000 e-mail addresses



An iPad e-mail leak showed each single one of more than 114,000 early-adopter iPad e-mail addresses. These e-mail addresses were required for 3G iPad owners to activate their devices. This iPad e-mail leak has compromised White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. This data leak not only exposes hundreds of thousands of AT and T clients to safety concerns, it raises inquiries about the exclusive contract between Apple and AT and T.


Source for this article: iPad e-mail leak reveals 114,000 e-mail addresses By Personal Money Store

Every 3G iPad customers are affected by iPad email leak


The iPad e-mail leak has, as far as most sources can tell, affected all owners of the iPad 3G. AT and T requires an e-mail address to activate the wireless data capabilities of the $800 device. Having been on the marketplace for only two months, the iPad 3G has been purchased and activated by a lot more than 114,000 users. Each one of these e-mail addresses is associated with an ICC-ID, an integrated circuit card identifier -- essentially, proof of identity of the device. With the ICC-ID and e-mail address, hackers could easily launch a mass attack to gain access to the info that is really contained on the iPad.


Email leak of iPad affecting many big names



The iPad e-mail leak affects quite a few people, but there are some significant concerns about some of the biggest names. The list of leaked iPad 3G e-mail addresses include William Eldridge, commander of a strategic bomber group in the air force. Hundreds of people within the U.S. Department of Justice, NASA, FCC and Army addresses are included on the list. Federal court system employees, House and Senate staffers, FAA, National Institutes of Health, Citigroup, Microsoft and Dow Jones corporate e-mail addresses were also found. It is certain that some of these companies and agencies have used developers to create a whole bunch of extra layers of security; but unlike Android devices, the notoriously closed-loop Apple systems can be difficult to upgrade the security on.



The iPad mail leak exposed



The iPad e-mail leak is depending on a vulnerability within the AT and T network. This group revealed security holes in Firefox, Amazon, and Safari. Goatse explained that they used only data and scripts which were publicly accessible to find the security hole that the iPad e-mail leak exploited. Before going public with the iPad e-mail leak, Goatse notified AT and T, who closed the security hole. AT and T has not yet notified owners of the iPad 3G whose e-mail addresses may have been compromised, two days after they were informed of the security hole.



Questions concerning the AT and T/Apple Contract



The iPad e-mail leak is just the latest in issues that Apple device users have encountered with AT and T. The carrier, a lot more than anything, has become known for slow networks and dropped calls on the iPhone and iPad. The difficulties with AT and T’s network seems so bad given that even Steve Jobs could not get the new iPhone to work during his WWDC presentation. Apple said their exclusive AT and T contract is going to last a few more years. Given all of the security breaches like this, slow networks and a lack of customer communication, you have to wonder if that contract will be honored.