The telecommunications giant AT&T has revealed a disturbing discovery: sensitive information belonging to millions of both current and former customers has been exposed online. This revelation comes as the company announced on Saturday that a dataset containing personal data, including Social Security numbers and passcodes, was found on the “dark web.”
AT&T: What Happened and the Implications
AT&T disclosed that approximately 7.6 million current account holders and 65.4 million former account holders may have been affected by this breach. The company is uncertain whether the leaked data originated from AT&T or one of its vendors and has initiated an investigation into the matter. While the breach doesn’t include financial information or call history, it does involve critical personal data such as full names, email addresses, mailing addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, and AT&T account numbers.
AT&T has started notifying affected customers and has already reset the passcodes of current users. Additionally, the company is offering credit monitoring services where applicable. Despite this breach, AT&T assured that it’s working with internal and external cybersecurity experts to delve deeper into the incident.
This isn’t the first time AT&T has faced data breaches, with cybersecurity researchers noting similarities with a previous incident in 2021. Failure to adequately address this breach could lead to potential lawsuits, according to experts. In light of such breaches, consumers are urged to take precautionary measures, such as creating strong passwords, using multifactor authentication, and monitoring account activity closely. The Federal Trade Commission also recommends setting up free credit freezes and fraud alerts with major credit bureaus to mitigate the risk of identity theft and other malicious activities.
