Apology Doesn't Cut It, Hackers Claim iPad Still Vulnerable

Posted 06/15/2010 at 5:17am | by Paul Lilly

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AT&T can send out apology emails to their heart's content for a recent security breach that had hackers posting emails of some 114,000 iPad owners, but at the end of the day, Apple's slate is still vulnerable, hacker site Goatse Security said.

As Goatse Security explains it, "all iPads are vulnerable" through the Safari browser. Safari apparently doesn't block off high-numbered, illegitimate ports or communication channels, and when combined with the broswer's ability to automatically fulfill software requests, a user need only click a malicious link to invite trouble. A hacker could, in theory, gain unauthorized access, and do so fairly easily.

Goatse Security's disclosure was in response to AT&T calling the recent attack "malicious" and requiring "great effort." According to AT&T's email, the security flaw that allowed the recent breach has been turned off and is no longer an issue. Goatse Security, however, denied that any "great effort" was involved, saying it took only an hour to bust into the system.