Apple's iPad user data is exposed via security flaw

June 11, 2010

Blow comes two months after Tablet Computer was launched in the United States

Victims include Celebs

Gawker said on Wednesday that it was informed of the flaw and given a list of the email addresses by a group of hackers

More than 100,000 ipad user accounts may have been compromised, it said

Gawker reported that it obtained a list of email addresses that included celebrities, politicians and chief executives

AT&T is now the sole wireless carrier for the iPad and the iPhone in the United States

San Francisco:

AT&T Inc said on Wednesday some users of Apple's iPad have had personal information exposed via a networking security flaw, two months after the tablet computer was launched.

The breach, first reported by the website Gawker, led to the exposure only of email adresses, AT&T said. The wireless operator has exclusive US rights to carry the iPad and the popular iPhone.

The company apologised and said it will inform customers who had been impacted by the security breach. AT&T said it learnt of the problem on Monday and has since corrected the flaw.

"This issue was escalated to the highest levels of the company and was corrected by Tuesday; and we have essentially turned off the featured that provided the email addresses," spokesman Mark Siegel said in an email.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment.

The iPad, launched in April, has already sold more than two million units worldwide. Buzz around the device - which alongside the iPhone will form a pivotal part of the company's - helped propel Apple past Microsoft in May to become the world's most valuable technology stock.

But rivals from Dell to Hewlett-Packard are now scrambling to get rival offerings onto the fledgling market, and the security breach could pose a potential embarrassment for Apple's two-month-old device.

Analysts speculate that AT&T arch-rival Verizon Wireless may win the right also to carry the iPhone, perhaps as early as 2011.

The company said it will continue to investigate the matter. AT&T said the group that discovered the flaw did not inform the company, which was alerted to the problem by a business customer.