A massive data breach has exposed the personal information of over 86 million AT&T customers, including:
- Full names
- Birthdates
- Phone numbers
- Email addresses
- Home addresses
The breach also includes 44 million Social Security Numbers in plain text. The stolen data was leaked on the dark web on June 3 and contains sensitive information that hackers can use for identity theft and other malicious activities.
Link to Cyberattack
The breach appears to be linked to a large-scale cyberattack that exploited vulnerabilities in Snowflake, a US-based cloud storage platform used by major companies to manage sensitive data. Reports indicate that hackers accessed AT&T’s data by infiltrating accounts that lacked multi-factor authentication.
This is not the first time AT&T has faced a major cyberattack. In December 2022, it was revealed that hackers had accessed the personal details of nearly 77 million customers after exploiting vulnerabilities in Snowflake.
AT&T’s Response
AT&T has confirmed the latest development and notified law enforcement. An AT&T spokesperson stated:
"We have notified law enforcement of this latest development. After analysis by our internal teams as well as external data consultants, we are confident this is repackaged data previously released on the dark web."
Affected customers were initially notified when the breach occurred, but around 13 million additional records appear not to have been disclosed until now due to the lack of two-factor authentication protection when accessing their accounts online or via the app.
Criticism from Lawmakers
Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn) criticized the ongoing breaches despite repeated warnings from Congress and other stakeholders. He stated:
"This attack highlights once again how easy it is for hackers like Shiny Hunters (who also breached Ticketmaster) to obtain highly sensitive information about millions of individuals without even needing sophisticated tools or techniques."
He added:
"It’s unconscionable that these breaches continue unabated. Despite repeated warnings from Congress and other stakeholders about these types of attacks — which are often preventable with basic security measures — companies continue to fail at protecting their customers’ most sensitive information."
Context of Recent Cyberattacks
The incident comes just weeks after Ticketmaster announced it had suffered a massive cyberattack that exposed customer credit card details along with full names and dates of birth for millions of people who attended concerts or bought tickets online through its website between February and October of the previous year.
Ticketmaster announced earlier this month it would pay a $23 million (£18 million) fine imposed by New York State Attorney General Letitia James following an investigation into its handling of customer credit card details during the sales process.
Additionally, Ticketmaster agreed under settlement terms reached with Ms. James’ office not to disclose any further financial penalties imposed against the company related directly or indirectly to hacking incidents prior to April of next year.
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