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AT&T, one of the largest telecommunications companies in the United States, is currently embroiled in an investigation regarding a significant data breach that has left 73 million current and former customers’ personal information exposed.
Dark Web Leak
The leak, as disclosed by AT&T in a news release on Saturday morning, surfaced on the dark web approximately two weeks ago. Among the compromised data are sensitive details such as account holders’ Social Security numbers.
Origin Unknown
The telecommunications giant clarified that it is still unclear whether the leaked data originated from AT&T or one of its vendors. As of now, there is no evidence suggesting unauthorized access to AT&T’s systems leading to the exfiltration of the data.
Timeframe and Contents
The leaked data seems to be dated from 2019 or earlier and does not contain financial information or specifics about call history, according to AT&T. The breach affects approximately 7.6 million current account holders and a staggering 65.4 million former account holders.
Response Measures
In response to the breach, AT&T has initiated several steps to mitigate the impact on its customers. The company is actively reaching out to affected customers, urging them to reset their account passcodes. Additionally, customers are advised to stay vigilant regarding any unusual activity on their accounts or credit reports. AT&T has also committed to providing credit monitoring at its expense where applicable.
Alerted Two Weeks Ago
AT&T first became aware of the potential data leak about two weeks ago when it was posted by a Twitter account named vx-underground on March 17. Initially, AT&T responded to the situation by stating, “We have no indications of a compromise of our systems.”
However, the recent disclosure indicates a more serious scenario. AT&T stated, “We determined in 2021 that the information offered on this online forum did not appear to have come from our systems. We believe and are working to confirm that the data set discussed today is the same dataset that has been recycled several times on this forum.”
This data breach incident highlights the ongoing challenges companies face in safeguarding sensitive customer information in an increasingly digital world.