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AT&T employees were bribed to install phone unlocking malware on company network

geekwire.com

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Re: AT&T employees were bribed to install phone unlocking malware on company network

#21

Post by withinrafael »

JRKrause wrote: post #13
chendragon wrote: post #3

Is this how the eBay phone unlocking services work? Usually they say something about servers and "sending your IMEI to the server" etc, and sometimes it can take a certain number of hours.

I bought an ATT locked iPhone SE from Ebay just 2 months ago. The unlocking process was essentially just going to ATT website and typing in the IMEI and they unlock it within 15 minutes for free. I assume all the "pay $10 to unlock your phone" services are just counting on the average person being too lazy to discover your can just do the legwork yourself.

The mobile operator provided unlock only works on devices of a certain age. You can't typically, for example, purchase a new flagship device and unlock it on day one. The illegitimate methods bypass this restriction.

Re: AT&T employees were bribed to install phone unlocking malware on company network

#22

Post by moftz »

kiallmacinnes wrote: post #11

> “Now he will be held accountable for the fraud and the lives he has derailed.” Whoa there. What? Yes, he's committed a crime and should be held accountable for that. But.. Who's lives has he derailed? If I was to accept a bribe to commit a crime, nobody is derailing my life but me - to say anything else suggests a level of intelligence bordering on inability to understand and take responsibility for my actions. Can…

I guess you could consider all of the employees that got fired/will get fired/left before they got fired. Their lives got derailed but that's on them. No one held a gun to their head, this guy was on the other side of the world and convinced some AT&T techs to do this for money. If they were willing to install malware for money, AT&T is just lucky the guy was only after unlocked phones. I'm sure the employee handbook doesn't explicitly say "don't install malware for strange Pakistani men for money" but I'm sure they had enough training to put all of the pieces together...

Re: AT&T employees were bribed to install phone unlocking malware on company network

#26

Post by thedanbob »

_bxg1 wrote: post #23

Wait... what? The "malware" just unlocked the phones' carrier locks? Was it the phones' owners who were paying him to unlock them from AT&T? Why is an illegal scheme even necessary for doing that? I'm quite confused.

Carriers typically won't unlock a phone that someone still owes money on or that's under a contract.

Re: AT&T employees were bribed to install phone unlocking malware on company network

#27

Post by jdblair »

jzunit wrote: post #8

His methods were illegal but can we please recognize this guy for being an ABSOLUTE HERO for unlocking all those phones and giving the people what they wanted.

A contract was violated when these phones were unlocked. In return for a locked phone the buyer received a subsidy from AT&T on the cost of the hardware. I don't want people to violate contracts with me, why should I recognize someone as a hero just because I don't like the contract?

To be absolutely clear, I don't like locked phones, either, so I always buy non-carrier-locked devices and it means I pay the full, unsubsidized hardware price.

[edited to fix a typo]

Re: AT&T employees were bribed to install phone unlocking malware on company network

#28

Post by gear54rus »

_bxg1 wrote: post #23

Wait... what? The "malware" just unlocked the phones' carrier locks? Was it the phones' owners who were paying him to unlock them from AT&T? Why is an illegal scheme even necessary for doing that? I'm quite confused.

Why is illegal scheme necessary to create derivative works of Mickey mouse? Because this world, while being peaceful, is overrun with hostile actors at every corner.

Re: AT&T employees were bribed to install phone unlocking malware on company network

#29

Post by brentm »

kiallmacinnes wrote: post #11

> “Now he will be held accountable for the fraud and the lives he has derailed.” Whoa there. What? Yes, he's committed a crime and should be held accountable for that. But.. Who's lives has he derailed? If I was to accept a bribe to commit a crime, nobody is derailing my life but me - to say anything else suggests a level of intelligence bordering on inability to understand and take responsibility for my actions. Can…

Federal prosecutors love a good dramatic press conference.
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