The data of nearly all customers of U.S. telecommunications giant AT&T was downloaded from a third-party platform in a significant security breach, the company announced on Friday.
The breach, which occurred in April this year, affected AT&T’s cellular customers, customers of mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) using AT&T’s wireless network, and landline customers who interacted with those cellular numbers.
Approximately 109 million customer accounts were impacted, according to AT&T, which stated that it currently does not believe that the data is publicly available.
The compromised data includes AT&T records of calls and texts between May 1 and October 31, 2022. For a very small number of customers, records from January 2, 2023, were also affected. The data does not include some information typically seen in usage details, such as the time stamps of calls or texts, or customer names. However, AT&T acknowledged that there are often ways to use publicly available online tools to find the name associated with a specific telephone number.
AT&T identified the third-party platform as Snowflake, a cloud computing company, and clarified that the incident was limited to an AT&T workspace on Snowflake’s platform. The breach did not impact AT&T’s own network.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been working collaboratively with AT&T and the Department of Justice (DOJ). The DOJ became aware of the breach earlier this year but determined that an earlier disclosure would “pose a substantial risk to national security and public safety.” As a result, the company’s delayed filing with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) was not made public until Friday.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is also investigating the incident.
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Data of nearly all AT&T customers leaked from 3rd-party platform
cgtn.com
