Hacker pleads guilty to stealing iPad user data

By Aemon Malone June 23, 2011

A hacker today admitted to stealing personal information and email addresses from about 114,000 users of Apple’s iPad. According to a press release issued by U.S. prosecutors in New Jersey, Daniel Spitler plead guilty today to identity theft and conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to computers. The 26-year old San Francisco-born hacker faces up to five years in prison for each count and a $250,000 fine. He’s scheduled to be sentenced on September 28. Andrew Auernheimer, Spitler’s alleged cohort, is still facing charges.

“Computer hackers are exacting an increasing toll on our society, damaging individuals and organizations to gain notoriety for themselves,” U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said in a statment.

“Hacks have serious implications – from the personal devastation of a stolen identity to danger to our national security,” Fishman continued. “In the wake of other recent hacking attacks by loose-knit organizations like Anonymous and LulzSec, Daniel Spitler’s guilty plea is a timely reminder of the consequences of treating criminal activity as a competitive sport.”

According to authorities, Spitler and Auernheimer wrote a program that targeted a security weakness in AT&T’s servers and allowed the pair to mine personal data from users of Apple’s 3G-ready iPad. Included in the purloined data were the email addresses of heads of major corporations, government officials and celebrities. Spitler and Auernheimer delivered the data to the blog Gawker, which published it in a redacted form, causing no shortage of embarrassment for AT&T.

According to prosecutors, Spitler and Auernheimer were members of a loose confederation of hackers that operated under the name Goatse. Spitler reportedly confessed to being a member of the group as part of his guilty plea. Auernheimer left police custody in March after posting $50,000 bail.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Mobile

Best iPad deals: Save on iPad Air, iPad Pro, iPad Mini

iPad Pro 2020 Screen.

If you’re in the market for some tablet deals the Apple iPad is a great tablet to turn to. The iPad frequently makes some of the best Apple deals you’ll find, and it sometimes even turns up better savings than Samsung tablet deals, Amazon Fire tablet deals, and even Kindle deals. There are quite a few iPad deals out there right now, and we’ve rounded up all of the best iPad deals below. They include a massive discount on the iPad Air M1 as well as a couple of price drops that came with the recent release of the iPad Pro M4, which is also seeing a surprising discount right now. With any iPad purchase you’ll get access to Apple’s software ecosystem so if you’re looking for some complementary devices you should also check out AirPods deals, iPhone deals, and MacBook deals for some additional Apple savings.
Apple iPad 10.2 (9th Gen) (64GB Wi-Fi) -- $249, was $329

Apple's A13 Bionic chip is no M1 or M2, but it still offers 64-bit architecture and neural engine support for excellent performance. In other words, this 10.2-inch iPad is incredible value. It has a 10.2-inch Retina display, 64GB of storage, supports Touch ID and Apple Pencil (1st Gen), and it's size, plus all-day battery life make it an excellent choice for anyone with an on-the-go lifestyle.

Computing

Could the Vision Pro replace your iPad? There’s just one problem

The front visor of the Vision Pro on display at an Apple Store.

In the time since it launched in early February, we’ve heard a lot about how Apple’s Vision Pro could replace some of the company’s other devices, especially the iPad. Now, prominent leaker Mark Gurman has joined the fray and lent weight to the idea of the headset becoming a tablet killer. But while that seems plausible, there’s one major problem with it.

Specifically, it’s the price. Because while Gurman’s Power On newsletter makes some good points about the Vision Pro’s strengths, it can’t get around the unavoidable obstacle that is the device’s $3,500 asking price. If the Vision Pro really is going to replace the iPad, a lot has to change first, especially given how wide of a range of prices the iPad line hits.
The iPad killer?

Computing

MacBooks could soon fall behind the iPad Pro in this important way

The iPad Pro (2022) sitting in the Magic Keyboard.

The dynamic balance between the Mac and the iPad may be about to shift again. Both the MacBook Air and iPad Pro will reportedly get updated this spring, boosting performance with the inclusion of the new M3 chip.

But a new report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman indicates that a new "landscape Face ID camera" may be in the works for the iPad Pro, potentially taking away one of the main advantages that MacBooks have over iPads. With so much of work happening in video calls, the iPad Pro might become a far better laptop replacement in this new generation.
The dream experience