iPad Breach: How to Stay Secure
Flaw in AT&T network revealed iPad owners' e-mail addresses, hackers say.
June 10, 2010— -- iPad owners are worried this morning following reports that a security flaw in AT&T's network exposed the e-mail addresses of more than 100,000 iPad 3G owners.
Among the addresses exposed were those of some titans of politics, finance and media, according to a report by the website Gawker.
CLICK HERE to read ABC News' full report on the iPad security breach.
Security Breach: What You Can Do
AT&T told "Good Morning America" it has since closed the security gap but that doesn't mean iPad users -- and everyone else for that matter -- shouldn't be vigilant about their e-mail security.
Here are a few steps you can take to help ensure your e-mail doesn't slip out into public.
Always use a secondary e-mail address when communicating publicly with businesses, websites, or for e-mail newsletters. If this e-mail account gets spammed it's not as annoying as when this happens to your primary work or personal account.
Almost all e-mail services including webmail like Yahoo and Gmail have spam filters. Take five minutes to set them up and customize them for the spam that is most annoying to you.
Keep an anti-virus program up to date and running on your computer. Viruses can transmit your e-mail address to spammers and turn your computer into a spam zombie that sends out thousands of unwanted messages to others. You'd never know it was happening unless you had anti-virus up and running.