Two computer geeks are facing federal fraud charges for hacking into AT&T’s servers and swiping thousands of private e-mail accounts, including those of Mayor Bloomberg, Diane Sawyer and ex-Obama chief-of-staff Rahm Emanuel.
Andrew Auernheimer, 25, of Fayetteville, Ark., and Daniel Spitler, 26, of San Francisco, were charged with fraud and conspiracy yesterday.
The hackers detected a security flaw in AT&T’s systems in June and harvested personal data from roughly 114,000 Apple iPad users, according to federal prosecutors.
The alleged sneaks turned the data over to a reporter who put it online.
“When we disclosed this, we did it as a service to our nation,” Auernheimer said. “We love America and the idea of the Russians or Chinese being able to subvert American infrastructure is a nightmare.”
But New Jersey US Attorney Paul Fishman yesterday called hackers a “threat to national security, corporate security and personal security.”
