In another security embarrassment for Apple, a hacker group has obtained the email addresses of 114,000 iPad owners.
The breach, through an AT&T security hole, has exposed details of “A-listers in finance, politics and media,” US blogsite Gawker reports.
Among those whose email has been compromised are news presenter Diane Sawyer, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, film mogul Harvey Weinstein and possibly White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Gawker said.
The breach comes weeks after an Apple employee lost an iPhone 4 prototype in a bar and the device was sold to gadget site Gizmodo.
The data, obtained by a group called Goatse Security, included subscribers' email addresses and an ID used to authenticate the subscriber on AT&T's network, known as the ICC-ID, Gawker said.
Goatse had obtained its data through a script on AT&T's website. A&T has closed the security hole, but the victims have been unaware until now, Gawker said.
“For a device that has been shipping for barely two months, and in its cellular configuration for barely one, the compromise is a rattling development. The slip up appears to be AT&T's fault at the moment, and it will complicate the company's already fraught relationship with Apple.”
Neither Apple nor AT&T has commented on the story.
Gawker said that while just 114,000 3G user accounts have been compromised, it was possible all information about all US iPad 3G owners had been exposed.