Securityfocus is reporting that a hacker known by the alias "Ethics" successfully penetrated T-Mobile's systems for at least a year.
Twenty-one year-old Nicolas Jacobsen was charged last October after an elaborate sting between a Secret Service informant and IRC chatrooms. Jacobsen obtained U.S. Secret Service e-mail, customers' passwords and Social Security numbers, and downloaded candid photos taken by Sidekick users, including Hollywood celebrities like Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Nicole Richie, and Paris Hilton.
Jacobsen could access information on any of the Bellevue, Washington-based company's 16.3 million customers, including many customers' Social Security numbers and dates of birth, according to government filings in the case. He could also obtain voicemail PINs, and the passwords providing customers with Web access to their T-Mobile e-mail accounts. He did not have access to credit card numbers.
T-Mobile, which knew of the hackers activities has so far failed to issue any public warning about the breach. The hacker was eventually caught after an informant gained his trust and passed back information to the Secret Service as part of their investigation "Operation Firewall". According to a source close to the secret service, Jacobsen has been offered work, pleading him out to a single felony, then enlisting him to catch other computer criminals in the same manner in which he himself was caught. The source says that Jacobsen, facing the prospect of prison time, is favorably considering the offer.
View: Securityfocus Story
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