Hacker group AntiSec leaks Apple device IDs to highlight FBI tracking

If reports from the hacker group are to be believed, the FBI has over 12 million Unique Device Identifiers (UDIDs) on file and now 1,000,001 of them have been leaked to the public.

Using the AtomicReferenceArray vulnerability in Java, the group allegedly hacked into Supervisor Special Agent Christopher K Stangl’s notebook in March of this year and retrieved a file with information about Apple iOS device users. The file, named “NCFTA_iOS_device_intel.csv”, is claimed to have usernames, device names, device types, push notification tokens, zip codes, phone numbers, addresses, and other personal identification components. If true, this could bring further scrutiny on the amount of information the federal government keeps on its citizens and people around the world.

The file name likely refers to the National Cyber-Forensics Training Alliance, an organization that is intended to combat cyber crimes. The irony here is that if the file is real then it represents a cyber crime itself.

According to TheNextWeb:

They published the UDID numbers to call attention to suspicions that the FBI used the information to track citizens. Much of the personal data has been trimmed, however, with the hackers claiming to have left enough for “a significant amount of users” to search for their devices.

* * *

“Cyber Security” image courtesy of Shutterstock.