WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, (Reuters) – The Federal Bureau  of Investigation has opened a probe into a security breach of  Apple Inc’s iPad that exposed personal information of AT&T Inc  customers, including those of several high-ranking government  officials.

The breach, first reported by the website Gawker, occurred  when a group calling itself Goatse Security hacked into AT&T’s  iPad subscriber data, obtaining a list of email addresses that  also included celebrities, chief executives and politicians.

“The FBI is aware of these possible computer intrusions and  has opened an investigation to address the potential cyber  threat,” FBI spokesman Jason Pack said on Thursday.

AT&T, which has exclusive U.S. rights to carry the iPad and  the popular iPhone, has acknowledged the security breach but  said it had corrected the flaw and that only email addresses  were exposed to hackers who identified a security weakness.

It declined to comment on the FBI investigation.

The quick FBI probe into the security flaw came amid  reports of several high-ranking government officials on the  list of iPad owners with compromised personal information.

In all, more than 100,000 email addresses are believed to  have been exposed. Goatse could not immediately be reached for  comment.

One source in the telecommunications industry said it was  not surprising that the FBI was looking at the breach.

“If there’s a high profile data compromise it’s not unusual  to get a phone call from government officials,” said the  executive, who asked not to be named.

The iPad, launched in April, has already sold more than 2  million units worldwide.

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 Corp in May to become the world’s most valuable  technology stock.

But rivals from Dell Inc to Hewlett-Packard Co are  scrambling to get rival offerings onto the fledgling market,  and the security breach could pose a potential embarrassment  for Apple’s 2-month-old device.

Security experts said it was unlikely that other  information besides email addresses had been compromised.

Charlie Miller, an analyst with Independent Security  Evaluators, argued that the breach had nothing to do the iPad’s  security.

“The actual vulnerability is pretty basic, but the loss of  data is not serious, in my opinion. The data on the iPad and  the devices themselves were never compromised or vulnerable,”  Miller said via e-mail.

George Kurtz, chief technology officer for security  software company McAfee, also downplayed the severity of the  breach.