The breach, which occurred over five months in 2022, affected approximately 109 million customer accounts
In a significant security breach, nearly all customer data from telecommunications giant AT&T was downloaded to a third-party platform, the company announced on Friday. This incident adds to the growing list of cyberattacks affecting businesses, schools, and health systems worldwide.
The breach, which occurred over five months in 2022, affected approximately 109 million customer accounts. It involved AT&T’s mobile customers, users of mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) that use AT&T’s wireless network, and landline customers who interacted with those cellular numbers. Despite the extensive impact, AT&T has stated that the compromised data is not believed to be publicly available.
According to AT&T, the breached data does not include sensitive personal information such as Social Security numbers, dates of birth, or the content of calls and texts. Additionally, the data does not contain details commonly seen in usage records, such as timestamps of calls or texts, or customer names. However, AT&T acknowledged that it is possible to use publicly available online tools to identify the name associated with a specific telephone number.
Cybersecurity experts support this view, noting that the exposed data can still be used to trace users. Thomas Richards, principal consultant at Synopsys Software Integrity Group, stated in an email, “While the information that was exposed doesn’t directly have sensitive information, it can be used to piece together events and who may be calling who. This could impact people’s private lives as private calls and connections could be exposed. The business phone numbers will be easy to identify and private numbers can be matched to names with public record searches.”
AT&T’s internal investigation revealed that the compromised data includes records of calls and texts made between May 1, 2022, and October 31, 2022. The company identified the third-party platform involved as Snowflake, clarifying that the incident was limited to an AT&T workspace on Snowflake’s platform and did not impact AT&T’s network.
As cyberattacks continue to rise, this breach highlights the ongoing vulnerability of personal data and the need for robust cybersecurity measures across all sectors.
