Despite AT&T claiming everything to be hunky dory, apparently some worries continue to persist about possible loopholes within the iPad. While the exposure of high profile email addresses was certainly troublesome, apparently there's a bigger worry. It's a certain thing called an ICC-ID number, according to The Wall Street Journal. Computer honchos think this could be more of a problem than email addresses getting out in the open.
Why the worry? Well, apparently the ICC-ID number is the starting point for gaining knowledge of a user's location as well as intercepting supposedly encrypted data. The process requires using the ICC-ID number to derive another number first and then after that, getting assistance form someone who might have access to telephone networks. Then, capturing data transmissions is done only with equipment that is quite pricey and generally only something law enforcement can use. Again, why the worry, if the tasks involved are pretty heavy?
"If those numbers do get out, there are ways to leverage them," according to Richard Misland, assistant professor at Purdue University, whose specialty is cyber forensics. "There are services that allow you to track phones" and units similar to the iPad when they interact with cellular networks.
Of course a quick fix to this would just be to give everyone a new SIM card. And, believe it or not, AT&T might actually oblige!
AT&T honcho Randall Stephenson said recently that his company would give a new SIM card to any user who wants one. "Our objective is to make it very comfortable and secure for you to go out and transact business on the Internet," he mentioned. "If you are not secure with that, it will limit where consumers are willing to go with these devices."
Lastly, just in case you were wondering, the ICC-ID number is sort of like the serial number for each device's SIM card. Usually they wind up written inside the cellphone or get printed on the boxes that units get shipped in.
