AT&T Wireless revealed on Friday that hackers stole call and text records from almost all of its 109 million customers. The theft, involving records from May to October 2022, was discovered in April 2023 when the data was illegally downloaded and transferred to a third-party platform. One suspect has been apprehended. While the stolen records did not include the content of calls or texts, they did include the contacted numbers and the duration and frequency of interactions. The Justice Department justified the delayed disclosure of the hack on national security grounds.
In a statement, AT&T expressed regret over the incident and reaffirmed its commitment to protecting customer information. The company assured the SEC that it had fortified its systems against similar breaches and confirmed that the stolen data was not publicly accessible. AT&T first became aware of the breach on April 19, five days after it began on April 14, and the unauthorized data access continued until April 25.
Experts caution that the stolen information could be used to infer work locations, approximate home addresses, and identify colleagues and friends. This breach follows a previous incident where data from 73 million former and current customers, dating back to 2019, was stolen and sold on the dark web. AT&T plans to notify affected customers, who can also log into their accounts to check if their data was compromised and request a user-friendly report detailing the breach. Users are advised to be vigilant against emails or texts requesting personal information.
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