AT&T to Blame for iPad Security Breach

Moments after the long awaited announcements of the new iPhone, thousands of iPad users had their personal e-mail addresses exposed to the world. Apple (News - Alert) was having a strong week up until it was discovered that AT&T was responsible for the 'worst security breach' in Apple's history, according to writer Joseph Tartakoff of paidContent.org.

Not only did everyday citizens fall victim to the security leak, but it also affected celebrities and politicians as well. According to TheStreet.com's Eric Rosenbaum, that included New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (News - Alert), Obama's 'right hand man' Rahm Emanuel, New York Times CEO Janet Robinson, Producer Harvey Weinstein and even ABC Anchor Diane Sawyer.

Currently, it has been reported that over 114,000 iPad accounts were affected by the breach, where users are subject to malicious hacking and spam marketing; said Gawker. The gossip site was informed by Goatse Security, a technological company who discovered the loophole in the network's servers and reported it to AT&T (News - Alert).

In a statement, Tartakoff said that AT&T admits the issue by, 'saying it turned off a feature that exposed the e-mail addresses on Tuesday and is reaching out to customers whose addresses might have been obtained by third parties.'

There have been several attempts by paidContent.org and TheStreet.com to obtain statements from Apple, but no requests have been answered.

So what happens next? Apple will inevitably issue a formal statement regarding the matter, but how do iPhone (News - Alert) users feel about this? Since the blame is not wholly on Apple but on AT&T, should more users be worried that they may share the same fate as these victims?

Only time will tell how this affects the trustworthiness of the iPhone-exclusive network, but one thing is for sure: this will be a week that neither Apple nor the public will likely forget.