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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

#111

Post by sokoloff »

rconti wrote: post #44
ijpoijpoihpiuoh wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. It's malware from the perspective of the entity whose computers it was installed on. To respond to your meta-point, phone locks are merely a technical control to help ensure consumers abide by their contractual obligations. At least, this is the case since companies have been obligated to offer unlocks for phones whose contracts are paid off. 2. Presumably, it's a combination of a number of mechanisms, like judgme…

Are they really obligated to offer unlocks now? I stopped getting subsidized phones 5 or so years ago (and it seems carriers mostly don't offer them anymore anyway), but I fought tooth and nail with multiple carriers to get my paid-for device unlocked, and usually the answer was "piss off".

Yes, since the enaction of this: https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/517

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

#112

Post by sokoloff »

munk-a wrote: post #107
tzs wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The trick I've found with Comcast is to go to their offices. The in-person support people have always been able to deal with whatever I was there for quickly and satisfactorily.

I don't want to, as a consumer I'd like to get decent customer service in a manner that isn't directly inconveniencing to either me or, even, the company. I don't demand that reps show up at my door, but it is seriously annoying how far Comcast will go out of their way refusing to help you.

I've had pretty excellent support from Comcast via chat on the 3 occasions I've needed to use them in the last 5 years or so. It doesn't seem like it's going to be as fast as a phone call, but it seems like I can easily express what I want/need and the chat agent seems to respond intelligently and effectively.

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

#113

Post by jandrese »

wmf wrote: post #98
_red wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. sign up for new phone at heavily subsidized rate in exchange for 3 yr service 2. after month 1 cancel service / credit card 3. sell unlocked phone on ebay

4. Collections agencies chase you forever over the ETF.

5. Your credit score suffers from an underflow after opening a million different credit cards to unlock a million phones.

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

#114

Post by Causality1 »

deogeo wrote: post #14

1.) How is unlocking a phone "malware"? Isn't the lock malware, and the unlocking serves the owner of the device? Calling it malware reeks of regurgitating AT&T propaganda. 2.) How did this "deprive AT&T of the stream of payments it was owned under the customers’ service contracts and installment plans."? A phone getting unlocked doesn't void a contract, so those customers are still on the hook.

It'd be interesting to have a word for software that penetrates security and breaks laws for benevolent purposes.

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

#115

Post by dmix »

ljf wrote: post #20
deogeo wrote: post #14

1.) How is unlocking a phone "malware"? Isn't the lock malware, and the unlocking serves the owner of the device? Calling it malware reeks of regurgitating AT&T propaganda. 2.) How did this "deprive AT&T of the stream of payments it was owned under the customers’ service contracts and installment plans."? A phone getting unlocked doesn't void a contract, so those customers are still on the hook.

I think the malware was installed to allow him generate unlock codes on the at&t servers, not on phones

> Fahd allegedly recruited AT&T “insiders” to install malware programs that gathered confidential information and submitted unlock requests using employee credentials via a remote server.

These were probably 3rd party call centers or section of the company that ran their customer service lines which gave agents the ability to unlock devices.

The amount of spin this article is using to associate locking devices to keeping customers in long-term contracts is quite strong though.

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

#116

Post by mschuster91 »

> Now he will be held accountable for the fraud and the lives he has derailed

What? Whose lives? Those of the executives who got a couple thousand dollars less on their multi million boni packages?

Don't get me wrong, bribing people to install malware is reprehensible, but that argument is just... unbelievably braindead.

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

#117

Post by slenk »

tzs wrote: post #70
belltaco wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same with Comcast, if not worse. For some reason their systems appear to take forever to load a customer account. One could probably find and pull a physical file of a user account faster in the pre-computer days out of a huge room full of wall to wall filing cabinets. I am not sure if it's ineptness or they pretend to take long to make support calls as frustrating as possible.

The trick I've found with Comcast is to go to their offices. The in-person support people have always been able to deal with whatever I was there for quickly and satisfactorily.

This is the only way I could get them to fix a problem I had.

I went on vacation once, never having missed a payment to Comcast nor have we been late in the 7+ years of our account.

I get back from being gone after the week, and no internet. I call Comcast, who says there is no outage, and can send someone out to investigate in a week.

Meanwhile, I look outside, and my cable is disconnected from the utility pole, meaning someone needed a bucket truck to do this.

Going into the Comcast office, they were able to send someone out in 3 days instead of 4.

Also, Comcast has no record of them disconnecting nor can tell me why I was disconnected.

I would LOVE to ditch Comcast, but I have 0 other options in my area for speeds over 25Mb, which is a joke. I will never understand how Comcast is not a monopoly.

I guess this turned more into me hating Comcast...

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

#118

Post by kaibee »

sokoloff wrote: post #111
rconti wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are they really obligated to offer unlocks now? I stopped getting subsidized phones 5 or so years ago (and it seems carriers mostly don't offer them anymore anyway), but I fought tooth and nail with multiple carriers to get my paid-for device unlocked, and usually the answer was "piss off".

Yes, since the enaction of this: https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/517

Technically yes, but in my experience... no.

Recently my parents switched carriers for whatever reason, so I had to get a new phone. Honestly I would have kept my Note4 for another year, but whatever. Being a phone from, what 2014? it was well paid off at this point.

1. I went to the AT&T Store, asked them to unlock my phone. Was told, no sorry, we don't do that here. "Call the support line."

2. Called the support line, waited 20 minutes, was transferred to the correct department, waited another 20 minutes. Was told, we don't do that over the phone anymore. Go to this website here.

3. Went to the website. It asks for the number that is printed behind the battery (y'know back in my day, you could remove batteries from the devices you owned and replace them) Next, it asks for some device ID Number that you need to ask the phone for. So you turn it back on, follow the directions, etc. Then you submit the form. Then they tell you it can take up to 48 hours to get the unlock code.

4. Wait.

5. Receive absolutely no confirmation or acknowledgement that your request was received or actioned on at all.

6. Buy a new phone because it isn't worth the hassle.

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

#120

Post by a3n »

belltaco wrote: post #59
spectrum1234 wrote: post #41

ATT support is awful. I recently had to contact support and through chat support the person said they were adding notes to my account. Of course when I call support another day they have no record of this. They then proceed to forward my call to 2 other departments each of which has no idea why I'm calling. I talked to each of these people for several minutes. How can a company possibly function like this?

Same with Comcast, if not worse. For some reason their systems appear to take forever to load a customer account. One could probably find and pull a physical file of a user account faster in the pre-computer days out of a huge room full of wall to wall filing cabinets. I am not sure if it's ineptness or they pretend to take long to make support calls as frustrating as possible.

> or they pretend to take long to make support calls as frustrating as possible.

Doubtful. Support staff are graded in part on how quickly they can get you off the call.

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