AT&T is the latest victim of a cybersecurity attack.
Earlier today, the company gave the unfortunate news to the public. In its announcement, the wireless carrier revealed that “nearly all” of its customers had their call records and text history exposed. This includes the MVNOs that use AT&T’s network, such as Cricket, Boost Mobile, and Consumer Cellular. The records that were exposed to bad actors contained data from May 1 to October 31, 2022. There’s also a “very small number” of customer records from January 2, 2023.
According to AT&T, the hacker gained access to this information through Snowflake, a third-party cloud platform. This platform previously affected Santander Bank and Ticketmaster.
The wireless provider learned of the hack in April. Despite this, “AT&T, the FBI and the Department of Justice agreed to delay notifying the public and customers on two occasions, citing ‘potential risks to national security and/or public safety.’”
If you are an AT&T subscriber (or one of the MVNOs running under it), the calls, texts, and total call durations on those dates were exposed in the breach. This includes the phone numbers you interacted with. But this is all the information that was obtained. The content of the calls and texts were not exposed in the breach.
Fortunately, the downloaded data obtained from AT&T does not include your personal information, Social Security numbers, or dates of birth.
AT&T promised that it has “taken steps to close off the illegal access point.” The wireless carrier also does not “believe that the data is publicly available.” They are also working with law officials to ensure those involved will be arrested. To date, one person has already been arrested by the officers.
In its apology, AT&T wrote:
“We will provide notice to current and former customers whose information was involved along with resources to help protect their information. We sincerely regret this incident occurred and remain committed to protecting the information in our care.”
Source: The Verge
