This hasn't been AT&T's month. First, security researchers found a loophole in the company's Web site that could be used to reveal e-mail addresses for tens of thousands of Apple iPad customers. Now, some users are reporting that when they log in to their AT&T accounts to pre-order the iPhone 4 they are apparently given access to the account information of other people.
The leader of a security research firm and AT&T traded angry words Monday in the wake of last week's data breach that exposed the e-mail addresses of 114,000 iPad 3G users. The carrier called the behavior of Goatse Security "malicious," while the security firm countered that AT&T was "being dishonest about the potential for harm." But both sides have plenty to answer for in how they've handled this security situation.
Telecom giant AT&T Inc. (T) apologized to the users of Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) iPad 3G tablet computer, whose e-mail addresses were exposed during a security breach that was disclosed last week.
In an e-mail sent to iPad accounts to explain why their email addresses were released, Dorothy Attwood, AT&T’s Senior Vice President, Public Policy and Chief Privacy Officer, said, ” No other information was exposed and the matter has been resolved. We apologize for the incident and any inconvenience it may have caused.”
AT&T has confirmed an iPad security breach which computer experts say has exposed over 100,000 early iPad adopters to potential malicious hacking and spam, with those vulnerable including dozens of CEOs, military officials, top politicians and media personalities.
An employee in one of Bank of America's customer call centers has admitted he stole sensitive account information and tried to sell it for cash.
A plan to force search engines to store details of web searches for up to two years has the backing of 324 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), reports the Independent.
The MEPs say such a requirement will help develop an "early warning system" against online sex offenders. However, civil liberties groups have criticised the plan saying it will lead to increased surveillance of internet activity and infringe privacy.
I’m as sick of writing about it as you are sick of reading about it. But because Facebook has become a societal juggernaut: a massive inexorable force that seems to crush everything in its way, we need to discuss it because it’s messing with lots of functions of society.
I know there's great concern in our world today about privacy and the possible lack thereof. Many are afraid that we are losing our privacy to the spying eyes of the Internet, represented most ominously by social networking sites like Facebook. I share this concern to an extent. But, I must confess that I also think we have too much privacy.
Before you fire off a nasty email or add a critical comment below, let me explain what I mean and don't mean.
UNREPENTANT DATA HARVESTER Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg felt the heat while fielding questions regarding the bait-and-switch social notworking website's recent betrayals of users' privacy.
While trying to counter claims that Facebook has a cavalier attitude towards user data privacy, a visibly perspiring Zuckerberg put on an unconvincing display that did little to stem the growing anger of users who feel that the firm's gung-ho pursuit of advertising sales shouldn't be applied to their personal data.
Facebook members can protect their personal information by following some basic guidelines, says security firm Symantec.
The most important practice is to never share the password used to enter the site with anyone, including best friends and spouses. Users of Facebook or any other social networking site should never post anything they would not want a future employer to see. Photos, videos and comments posted on the web are often there forever, said Symantec.
