Data Of AT&T Customers Downloaded To Third-Party Platform

The data of nearly all customers of the telecommunications giant AT&T was downloaded to a third-party platform in a security breach, the company said, as cyberattacks against businesses, schools, and health systems continue to spread globally, Michelle Chapman reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Cybersecurity experts concurred, saying that such data can be used to trace users. Photo: Sami99tr Wikimedia Commons

The breach, most of which took place over five months in 2022, hit customers of AT&T’s cellular customers, customers of mobile virtual network operators using AT&T’s wireless network, as well as its landline customers who interacted with those cellular numbers.

Approximately 109 million customer accounts were impacted, according to AT&T, which said that it currently doesn’t believe that the data are publicly available.

“The data do not contain the content of calls or texts, personal information such as Social Security numbers, dates of birth, or other personally identifiable information,” AT&T said.

The compromised data also don’t include some information typically seen in usage details, such as the time stamp of calls or texts, the company said, or customer names. AT&T said that there are often ways to use publicly available online tools to find the name associated with a specific telephone number.