AT&T iPad Security Breach Hacker Sentenced to 41 Months in Prison - MacRumors
Skip to Content

AT&T iPad Security Breach Hacker Sentenced to 41 Months in Prison

172558 ipad 3g badgeAndrew Auernheimer, one of the hackers behind the release of email addresses of 114,000 iPad users back in 2010, has been sentenced to 41 months in prison following his conviction on one count of identity fraud and one count of 'conspiracy to access a computer without authorization'.

In November, Auernheimer was found guilty on one count of identity fraud and one count of conspiracy to access a computer without authorization. Following his release from prison, Auernheimer will be subject to three years of supervised release. Auernheimer and co-defendant Daniel Spitler were also ordered to pay $73,000 in restitution to AT&T. The pre-sentencing report prepared by prosecutors recommended four years in federal prison.

There is quite a bit of consternation among tech commentators about the appropriateness of a sentence of more than three years in prison for accessing AT&T servers without actually entering a password or directly compromising a system.

Instead, Auernheimer and his partner Daniel Spitler (who pled guilty and received a 12-18 month sentence) wrote a script to guess the identifying numbers of the iPad's SIM card and faked out AT&T's website until it returned the email address connected to said SIM cards. The email addresses of thousands of high-profile iPad users were leaked, including private addresses of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, then White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, and ABC News journalist Diane Sawyer.

It appears that Auernheimer's antagonistic attitude and lack of contrition contributed to the lengthy sentence, including running a Reddit Ask Me Anything thread the night before his sentencing where he said he wanted to get elected to Congress because Congressional Immunity would allow him to release hacks on the floor of Congress with no repercussions.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Popular Stories

apple pro tell logo

Apple Launching Five New Products This Friday

Monday November 2, 2026 1:22 am PST by
Apple is releasing five new products this Friday, November 6, following pre-orders that opened last week, including its first touchscreen MacBook Pro models. The following new products will be available from Friday: iPad mini with OLED display and A20 Pro chip iMac with M6 chip 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 chip 14-inch MacBook Pro with OLED touchscreen 16-inch MacBook Pro with OLED...
Apple Logo Gradient 16x9 1

Apple Isn't Done With 2026: Here's What's Still Coming

Monday November 2, 2026 7:27 am PST by
Apple's busiest season isn't over yet. Far from it. With two hardware launch dates still to come in November, plus software updates and new smart home accessories running into December, there's more on the way from Apple before the end of 2026, so be sure to stick around. Below, we've rounded up what's still coming, along with one date in particular that's worth watching if you're a holiday...
iPad Pro 2024 vs Air 2024 Feature

Three New iPads Rumored to Launch in First Half of 2027

Sunday November 1, 2026 7:27 am PST by
After announcing a new iPad mini with an OLED display earlier this month, Apple plans to release new iPad Air, iPad Pro, and entry-level iPad models in the first half of 2027, according to the latest word from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the next iPad Air will also feature an OLED display, while he expects the next iPad Pro to be equipped with a...

Top Rated Comments

indychris Avatar
178 months ago
Shows how far into the government's pockets these large corporations are. You would likely get less time for burglary or GBH. Heck, some rapists have gotten less time over here :(.

Sounds like you have sympathy for a guy who could wreck peoples' lives via identity theft. I have no sympathy whatsoever for this twerp. While I would love nothing more than to see bureaucratic nannies like Bloomberg and Emanuel taken down a notch, the truth is people like Auernheimer are a huge threat to all of us, and it needs to be demonstrated that identity theft simply can not be tolerated and will be punished harshly.

Personally, I hope during his stay at the Gray Bar Hotel, they completely eliminate any and all access to computer technology so that he can't find ways to continue to invoke havoc on others.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Medic311 Avatar
178 months ago
hacking email addresses of iPad owners - 41 months of hard prison
destroying people's lives by lying about AAA ratings on junk mortgage securities and plunging this country into a recession we have yet to fully recover from...priceless.

heck, those 2 Ohio teens who raped that 16 yr old girl only got 1 year.

the punishment does not fit the crime. if anything, this guy did AT&T a favor. imagine if it was the Chinese government who hacked the system. they would have exposed A LOT more than just an email list. let's face it - the only reason why the sentence was longer was b/c he happened to expose the email addresses of the rich and powerful elite. if he only exposed regular joe-shmoe's like all of us here we wouldn't even hear about it in the news and minimal effort would be spent on the prosecution. it's like that state-wide manhunt for Christopher Dorner. if cops weren't injured or killed, not even a fraction of the effort would have been spent to look for him. but as soon as cops are involved, they use more resources than otherwise.

look - the guy was in the wrong. hacking and obtaining information that is not your's is stealing. however his theft did not result in anything except inconvenience for these high profile elitists. he did not obtain information that resulted in a security threat, nor did he obtain information that could be used to create a security threat. knowing the email address of Bloomberg doesn't give you the ability to hack him - heck his friends and coworkers have his email address.

this is absolutely ridiculous. no wonder he doesn't give a ***** about the system and said the things that he said. there is no way he will actually serve the full 41 month sentence either. this was just a publicity stunt for the prosecution to show the elitists and the news media that if you inconvenience them you will get the maximum sentence. once the spotlight moves onto the next big thing, this guy will get out very early
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
178 months ago
Shows how far into the government's pockets these large corporations are. You would likely get less time for burglary or GBH. Heck, some rapists have gotten less time over here :(.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
krye Avatar
178 months ago
Hacking is hacking. Whether or not he entered a password or compromised another machine is irrelevant. May this serve as a lesson to all the other hackers that try to do stuff with other people's computers.

This is the cyber version of breaking and entering. You can't just walk into someone's house and have a look around. You can't use the argument that they left the front door open either. You just don't do it.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
melgross Avatar
178 months ago
Long enough?

Not only do I like this sentence, but I would like it even more if it were longer. I don't understand the attitude here of some people who think this is no big deal. It IS a big deal.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
178 months ago
Selling crack to junior high school kids gets you less time.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Latest Stories
Everything New in the iOS 27.3 Beta
Everything New in the iOS 27.3 Beta
10 hours ago
Apple Music's New Selfie Sing Feature Lets You Record Karaoke Videos
Apple Music's New Selfie Sing Feature Lets You Record Karaoke Videos
11 hours ago
iPhone Jailbreak Gets Past Lockdown Mode and Survives an Update
iPhone Jailbreak Gets Past Lockdown Mode and Survives an Update
13 hours ago
iPadOS 27.3 Expands Siri Mode to Camera App
iPadOS 27.3 Expands Siri Mode to Camera App
14 hours ago
Veterans Day Apple Watch Activity Challenge Launches November 11
Veterans Day Apple Watch Activity Challenge Launches November 11
15 hours ago
Best Early Black Friday Mac Deals: Save Hundreds on MacBook Air, Mac Mini, and More
Best Early Black Friday Mac Deals: Save Hundreds on MacBook Air, Mac Mini, and More
15 hours ago
Apple Fitness+ Gets Gym Strength Plans in iOS 27.3
Apple Fitness+ Gets Gym Strength Plans in iOS 27.3
15 hours ago
iOS 27.3 Adding New StandBy Mode Features to iPhone 11 and Newer
iOS 27.3 Adding New StandBy Mode Features to iPhone 11 and Newer
15 hours ago
Apple Releases New AirPods Beta Firmware
Apple Releases New AirPods Beta Firmware
15 hours ago
iOS 27.3 Beta Brings Apple Intelligence to China
iOS 27.3 Beta Brings Apple Intelligence to China
15 hours ago
iPhone Duo Gets Reachability in iOS 27.3 Beta
iPhone Duo Gets Reachability in iOS 27.3 Beta
16 hours ago
Siri AI Gets More Capable in iOS 27.3
Siri AI Gets More Capable in iOS 27.3
16 hours ago
iOS 27.3 Adds Vertical Tabs and Adaptive Dark Mode to Safari
iOS 27.3 Adds Vertical Tabs and Adaptive Dark Mode to Safari
16 hours ago
watchOS 27.3 Brings Live Rewind and Siri Recap to Apple Watch
watchOS 27.3 Brings Live Rewind and Siri Recap to Apple Watch
16 hours ago
iOS 27.3 Beta Brings Back Apple's Redesigned Health App
iOS 27.3 Beta Brings Back Apple's Redesigned Health App
16 hours ago
Apple Releases First macOS Golden Gate 27.3 Beta
Apple Releases First macOS Golden Gate 27.3 Beta
17 hours ago
Apple Seeds First iOS 27.3 Beta
Apple Seeds First iOS 27.3 Beta
17 hours ago
Apple Releases First watchOS 27.3, tvOS 27.3 and visionOS 27.3 Betas
Apple Releases First watchOS 27.3, tvOS 27.3 and visionOS 27.3 Betas
17 hours ago
iPad Mini 8 Reviewer Dissatisfied With Apple's Excuse for Lack of 120Hz Display
iPad Mini 8 Reviewer Dissatisfied With Apple's Excuse for Lack of 120Hz Display
17 hours ago
iPad Mini 8 Review Claims Battery Life is Way Better Than Apple Says
iPad Mini 8 Review Claims Battery Life is Way Better Than Apple Says
17 hours ago
B&H Photo Launches Early Black Friday Sale With Discounts on Macs and Accessories
B&H Photo Launches Early Black Friday Sale With Discounts on Macs and Accessories
18 hours ago
iPhone Duo Could Take Nearly 30% of Foldable Market in 2027
iPhone Duo Could Take Nearly 30% of Foldable Market in 2027
18 hours ago
Apple Watch Automatically Identifies Songs Playing Around You
Apple Watch Automatically Identifies Songs Playing Around You
19 hours ago
iPhone 18 Rumored to Get Larger Battery and Potential Price Increase
iPhone 18 Rumored to Get Larger Battery and Potential Price Increase
19 hours ago
Apple Store in UK Permanently Closing Later This Month
Apple Store in UK Permanently Closing Later This Month
19 hours ago
Apple's Annual R&D Spending Jumps by More Than $11 Billion
Apple's Annual R&D Spending Jumps by More Than $11 Billion
20 hours ago
Will Apple Ever Merge iPadOS and macOS? John Ternus Responds
Will Apple Ever Merge iPadOS and macOS? John Ternus Responds
20 hours ago
MacBook Neo Gets Rare $30 Amazon Discount
MacBook Neo Gets Rare $30 Amazon Discount
21 hours ago
Hands-On: The OLED iPad Mini is Almost an iPad Pro Mini
Hands-On: The OLED iPad Mini is Almost an iPad Pro Mini
21 hours ago
tvOS 27.2.1 and macOS 27.2.1 Likely Coming Soon
tvOS 27.2.1 and macOS 27.2.1 Likely Coming Soon
21 hours ago