Members of Honolulu’s APEC Host Committee who represent some of Hawaii’s biggest companies and institutions have been told their personal information may have been stolen after security clearances were requested for them to meet with President Barack Obama Saturday night during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

East-West Center President Charles Morrison sent letters dated Tuesday to about 40 APEC Host Committee members informing them of a security breach caused by "an outside source using unusually sophisticated methods that escaped our detection capabilities."

The East-West Center collected birth dates and Social Security numbers from committee members on behalf of the White House so the members could meet Obama and be photographed with him and first lady Michelle Obama Saturday night.

But East-West Center officials later learned that someone likely gained "unauthorized access" to eight of their computers, beginning as early as Oct. 25, East-West Center spokeswoman Karen Knudsen told the Star-Advertiser Thursday.

One of the apparently hacked computers contained the personal information of the committee members who wanted to see Obama. Members include the heads of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Hawaiian Airlines, Outrigger Hotels, the University of Hawaii and the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, among other prominent businesses and organizations.

Morrison emphasized that the East-West Center did not collect personal information for any of the APEC delegates and dignitaries, who included the leaders of 21 APEC countries.

Jim Tollefson, president and chief executive officer of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii and a committee member, was happy to meet and be photographed with the Obamas, along with his fiancee, Nadine Shigezawa.

But Tollefson wasn’t pleased to later receive a letter from Morrison about the suspected security breach and possible identity theft.

"I wasn’t happy but I’m not upset with them," Tollefson said. "These things happen. You hear of these situations, although I’ve never been a victim. It’s a factor of the times we live in."

In his letter, Morrison wrote:

"The East-West Center has been notified that our computer system experienced unauthorized access starting approximately from October 25, 2011. We believe, but have no way of knowing for sure, that this breach was related to seeking APEC information. Due to our APEC involvement in credentialing Hawaii participants in a White House function, part of the data traffic contained personal information, including names, Social Security numbers, and birth dates. At this time, the EWC has no evidence that your personal information was actually accessed, but we also cannot determine with certainty that it was not accessed."

Morrison’s letter provides information for credit-reporting agencies and urges the committee members to contact them, a recommendation that Tollefson followed.

Morrison told the Star-Advertiser that federal authorities are investigating the suspected hacking, but declined to name which agency is involved.

FBI Special Agent Tom Simon confirmed only that the FBI is "aware of the situation."

Most of the information on the East-West Center computers contained routine work and office information, such as emails, office correspondence and research and analysis papers, Knudsen said.

"We don’t do any classified work at the East-West Center, and we don’t do top-secret work," Knudsen said. "Nothing to do with national security."

Morrison and Knudsen said they suspect that the APEC security clearance information was not the target of the suspected breach.

"There’s no way to know for sure," Knudsen said. "But it was not widely known that we were assisting (the White House) in this capacity."

Otherwise, Tollefson enjoyed the brief moment he shared with President Obama, even though it required exposing personal information to identity theft.

"I thanked the president for choosing Honolulu (for APEC)," Tollefson said. "He said, ‘That was an easy one.’"