Published on: July 12, 2024
AT&T confirmed that it was the victim of a data breach in 2022 on Friday. The company said that the data was downloaded to a third-party cloud platform. It’s been reported that AT&T had roughly over 100 million wireless customers in 2022.
“We launched an investigation and engaged leading cybersecurity experts to understand the nature and scope of the criminal activity,” AT&T said in a press release. “We have taken steps to close off the illegal access point. We are working with law enforcement in its efforts to arrest those involved in the incident. We understand that at least one person has been apprehended.”
The breached data encompasses files containing AT&T’s call and text records for virtually all of its cellular customers, including those of mobile virtual network operators utilizing AT&T’s network, as well as AT&T’s landline customers who communicated with these cellular numbers from May 1, 2022, to October 31, 2022. Additionally, the data includes records from January 2, 2023, for a small number of customers.
These records detail the telephone numbers contacted by AT&T or MVNO cellular numbers during these periods. Some records also include one or more cell site identification numbers associated with the interactions. AT&T said international calls were not included in the stolen data, with the exception of calls to Canada.
“The data does not contain the content of calls or texts, personal information such as Social Security numbers, dates of birth, or other personally identifiable information,” AT&T said. “It also does not include some typical information you see in your usage details, such as the time stamp of calls or texts. While the data does not include customer names, there are often ways, using publicly available online tools, to find the name associated with a specific telephone number.
At this time, we do not believe that the data is publicly available.”
AT&T added that it will reach out to customers and others who were affected by the breach via email, text, or the US Postal Service. It has also created a website that current and former customers can visit in order to see if any of their personal data was in the breach.