NBC: Florida Firm Unwilling Source Behind UDID Leak

Anonymous’ claim that they acquired the million-record database of Apple gadget identifiers from the FBI has been debunked. According to NBC News, Blue Toad, a publishing company based in Florida, is the source of the database that was stolen. In an exclusive report, Blue Toad CEO Paul DeHart confirmed to NBC that they were the unwilling source of the leak. The company’s forensic analysis believes the records were stolen “in the past two weeks.” He states:

That's 100 percent confidence level, it's our data. As soon as we found out we were involved and victimized, we approached the appropriate law enforcement officials, and we began to take steps to come forward, clear the record and take responsibility for this.

Earlier this month, Anonymous leaked over 1 million unique identifiers that they claimed came from a stolen FBI-owned laptop. However, Apple claimed that they didn’t give any UDIDs to the FBI, news that the federal agency confirmed. Regardless of where the UDIDs came from, Apple has asked developers to stop using them to track users. For those concerned that their data was leaked, DeHart recommends visiting one of the search engines where users can see if their UDID is in the data dump, like this one. Still, he suggests consumers should not “overreact” to news of the leak. His suggestion is to make sure your apps are updated since many developers have already removed UDIDs for tracking purposes. To find your UDID, make sure your iOS device is attached to your PC or Mac. From there, go into iTunes and click on your device’s icon. You will find your UDID on the Summary page near the top of the screen right after your device’s serial number is listed. If you don’t see the UDID, click below it, and it should appear. When we hear more about this security breach, we’ll let you know. Source: NBC News Photo: Macsorro

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