FBI Launches Investigation of iPad Security Breach

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has launched an investigation of the recent AT&T website security breach that exposed the email addresses of some Apple iPad users, an FBI spokeswoman confirmed to CNBC Thursday.

AT&T announced on Wednesday that some iPad users have had personal information exposed via a network security flaw, two months after the tablet computer was launched and smashed sales expectations.

The breach, first reported by the website Gawker, led to the exposure only of email addresses, AT&T said in an earlier statement. The wireless operator has exclusive U.S. rights to carry the iPad and the popular iPhone.

The company has apologized and said it will inform any customers who have been impacted by the security breach. AT&T said it learned 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 feature that provided the email addresses,” spokesman Mark Siegel said in an email statement earlier this week.

Apple has not responded to a request for comment.

The iPad, launched in April, has already sold more than 2 million units worldwide. Buzz around the device—which alongside the iPhone will form a pivotal part of the company’s international growth strategy—helped propel Apple past Microsoft in May to become the world’s most valuable technology stock.

Investigation

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.

Gawker has said it was informed of the flaw by a group of hackers.

Its report said more than 100,000 iPad user accounts may have been compromised. Gawker earlier 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. But it continues to draw harsh criticism from iPhone users over the quality of its network, and the security breach acknowledged this week may add fuel to that fire.

The carrier said the flaw led to exposure of iPads’ integrated circuit card IDs, which identify SIM cards in mobile devices.

“The only information that can be derived from the ICC IDS is the email address attached to that device,” AT&T said in a statement Wednesday.

Analysts speculate that AT&T arch-rival Verizon Wireless may eventually win the right also to carry Apple’s iPhone, perhaps as early as 2011.

The company said it will continue to investigate the matter. According to AT&T, the group who discovered the flaw did not inform the company; instead, it was alerted to the problem by an unidentified business customer.