NEW DELHI: iPad wasn’t even a day in the market, when eager hackers pounced on the much-awaited device. Reportedly, the next-generation iPad was jailbroken within three hours of its market release on March 16.

“Musclenerd,” a member of the iPhone Dev Team, posted a screenshot on Twitter on Mar. 16 showing how he got root access on the latest Apple tablet. Another member, Stefan Esser, or @i0nic, posted a video showing an untethered jailbreak for his third-generation iPad. Finally, Grant Paul, or @chpwn, disclosed a third method to get root on the new iPad, PC Magazine reports.

The tweet said: Jailbroken iPad 3: “Just a first step, still lots of work to do! No ETA!.”

Jailbreaking, is the process of removing the limitations imposed by Apple on devices running the iOS operating system. It leaves the device vulnerable to users who can gain root access to the operating system and download additional apps that are unavailable through the official Apple App Store.

Hackers seem to have mastered the art of cracking open the toughest codes. Recently, a group of hackers busted the security of Google Chrome, which was previously known as invincible.