The latest Anonymous escapade already has everybody talking. On Monday, the AntiSec branch leaked 1 million Apple device IDs onto the Internet. They claim that the IDs came from a larger dump of 12 million IDs they took from an FBI laptop. This morning, the FBI issued a statement saying that the accusation was false. Since then, we’ve been waiting to hear back from the last party involved – Apple.
In a statement to All Things D, Apple said that the FBI never requested device IDs. They also said that they have never given the IDs out to any organization, including the FBI. The company made a note to say that they would be replacing device IDs with a new set of APIs soon and that future apps will be banned if they use the IDs.
Out of all the groups involved, Apple is the one that you could trust the most on this issue. They stand to gain nothing from giving personal information to the authorities. They have everything to lose, in the form of a PR disaster, if all 12 million IDs are leaked. They’re going to be working double time to figure out how AntiSec got a hold of the IDs.
As usual, AntiSec is having a little fun with the news.
Apple: We Didn’t Give FBI Any Device IDs http://t.co/QyPf1sRW But who did? That’s the 10000001$ question.
Even more interesting is the next Tweet from AntiSec:
Next week expected iPhone 5 release. I know what people will be talking about, and it’s probably not a new phone.
It’s hard to imagine a headline more powerful than Apple revealing the iPhone 5 on September 12 next week. The only two things that could get bigger news coverage than the reveal would be either Anonymous leaking the rest of the device IDs or proving the FBI connection. They could also mean something else entirely unrelated to the iPhone. My money is on a vague threat meant to induce the so-called “lulz,” but AntiSec has already proven that they have something. This could be an Anonymous threat that people will have to take seriously.
As always, we’ll continue to monitor the situation and update you should anything change. I expect we’ll hear something by the end of the week.
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