AT&T Security Flaw – Time To Open Your Eyes
We have the tendency to run around giving little thought regarding our private information on a daily basis. Our ATM PIN number is locked in our heads, your child’s birth certificate is in the bank’s security vault, where we keep the secret stash of Ho-Ho’s and Ding Dongs. In all seriousness, according to an AP report, a Georgia woman and her two daughters logged into Facebook through their mobile phones and found themselves with access not to their accounts, but onto strangers’ accounts and had quite literally unrestricted access to their private information. Another gentleman from Washington logged into his account and found he has access to some woman’s account and she into his.
According to the report “The glitch – the result of a routing problem at the family’s wireless carrier, AT&T – revealed a little known security flaw with far reaching implications for everyone on the Internet, not just Facebook users.”, it goes on to indicate that “In each case, the Internet lost track of who was who, putting the women into the wrong accounts. It doesn’t appear the users could have done anything to stop it. The problem adds a dimension to researchers’ warnings that there are many ways online information – from mundane data to dark secrets – can go awry.”
This exposes what we in the industry have known for some time, even though you may practice safe internet privacy security, potentially your carrier can blow it all – and you are exposed.
This report probably has you shaking your head thinking “Wow, that’s crazy, I hope that doesn’t happen again”, or “AT&T better get their act together.” but let me ask you this – what if you’ve already been compromised? What if it was your account these women accessed? Or worse, what if some hacker who didn’t alert the media just kept on digging through your private information and found something that you wouldn’t want published on the internet?
I’ve been in the industry for over 2 decades and I’ll readily admit when I was on the other side working for some of these telecommunications carriers we saw things that would absolutely stun you – yes it really does happen. These things NEVER made the paper and at times some of these failings were frightening. I’m also here to tell you that most of us will glance over this article and think – that’s horrible, shrug your shoulders and move on.
If you’re a manager within a company, I’m giving you this warning – you’re not as secure as you think. You need to be aware of what you’re exposing online and how your employees are accessing specific information and what they’re putting online. As more and more companies chose their vital services to be run via “cloud computing“, it is extremely important you know all risks associated with doing so and what you can do to limit your exposure to data loss.
If you’re reading this article and you’re concerned about protecting your privacy, continue to do the safe things such as changing your passwords, using encryption when possible or simply keep what you want to keep private OFF the internet. You won’t be able to do a thing if a carrier slips up, but try and minimize the damage by reducing your exposure and risk. Be safe out there.
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Benny Carreon is the President and CEO of GrayBear Resources Group. GBR is a next-generation telecommunications consulting firm. We aren't a telephone company's vendor disguising itself as a consultant. We don't sell carrier products that would conflict with out mission - our goal is to work for our clients by reducing costs, streamlining services, eliminating waste and fraud while providing the least disruption to your business.
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