Hacker pleads guilty to AT&T iPad data breach

Daniel Spitler, one of the hackers responsible for the exposure of email addresses and SIM ICC-ID numbers for 114,000 iPad 3G users last June, has pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to computers and one count of identity theft. Reuters reports that Spitler made his plea before U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton in Newark, New Jersey federal court, and that each count carries a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Spitler will be sentenced September 28; the case of his co-defendant Andrew Auernheimer is pending. Spitler and Auernheimer, under the name of “Goatse Security,” discovered a publicly accessible script on AT&T’s website through which they extracted the data. The pair alerted the carrier only after they had stolen the data, shared the PHP script used with several third-parties, and supplied Gawker with the user account information.