A new controversy surrounding security and data traffic behind users’ backs has been opened after learning of the alleged publication information about 1 million Apple devices. According to the AntiSec group, it’s part of the 12 million they found six months ago in a computer belonging to the FBI.
In a statement released a few days ago, the hacker group confirmed that one of its main priorities “is steal and leak classified government information, including email sets and documentation. However, they specify that “the main targets are also banks and high-ranking establishments”. AntiSec justifies their actions by pointing out that “if they try to censor our progress, we will defeat the censor with a fire cannon stained with lizard blood”.
Returning to the case of Apple user data, the group claimed that among the user data they have the identification number of the equipment as well as their associated addresses and telephone numbers. They also confirmed that the data belongs to users of Apple mobile devices, i.e. the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. However, according to Marc Maiffret, CTO of security company BeyondTrusMaiffret, the disclosure of data held by AntiSec “is not something that is going to allow hackers to break into people’s iPhones”.
Does the FBI store this personal data?
The FBI’s response to the case was swift. Authorities noted that “at this time, there is no evidence that an FBI laptop was compromised or that the FBI requested or obtained this data.” His immediate response was prompted by the controversy opened up after the news broke, with many users wondering why the federal authorities in the North American country stored this type of information without permission explicit from users.
Actualization: Our colleagues from redeszone.net report on the publication of a online tool which allows users to check if their UDID is one of the stolen ones.