Further problems at AT&T

According to US media reports, the servers of telecommunications giant AT&T had considerable problems with handling iPhone 4 pre-orders. Problems included not only server connection failures and processing flaws, but also data leaks. After logging in, users were presented with other customers' account details – including their address, invoicing overview and outgoing phone calls. However, it was reportedly not possible to manipulate the data.

AT&T responded by taking the pages offline. They have since become available again – but pre-orders are no longer said to be possible. No official statement about what caused the problems has so far been issued. Technology blog Gizmodo, however, reported that the failures and leaks were caused by a server update that was installed last weekend. An anonymous informer who apparently works for an AT&T supplier said that the update went wrong and crippled numerous systems. This was said to have caused widespread problems on the internet and in AT&T stores. Nevertheless, AT&T has reportedly already sold its entire allocation of the new generation iPhones.

Only at the beginning of the week, AT&T's Vice President and Chief Privacy Officer, Dorothy Attwood, had to email an apology to iPad owners about the data leak reported last week. Hackers had managed to exploit a vulnerable AT&T web server to gain access to the email addresses of over a hundred thousand iPad owners. The list included numerous US civil servants working at places such as the Pentagon and the White House. The FBI began to investigate soon afterwards.

See also:

• AT&T apologises to iPad 3G owners for security breach, a report from The H.
• AT&T lets 114,000 email addresses of iPad owners leak out, a report from The H.

(crve)