AT&T recently announced that a breach on a third-party cloud platform has exposed the call and text records of almost all its cellular customers. This incident resulted in six months’ worth of call and text records being taken from AT&T’s workspace on the cloud platform. The leaked data includes phone numbers that AT&T subscribers communicated with, but not their names.
The data breach was a result of an attack on the “AI data cloud” provider Snowflake, which also impacted other companies like Ticketmaster. The attackers obtained login credentials through information-stealing malware. AT&T confirmed that the stolen call data has not been made publicly available and that they are working with law enforcement to address the situation.
While the compromised data does not include the content of calls or text messages, it contains AT&T records of calls and texts of nearly all of AT&T’s cellular customers, as well as customers of mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) using AT&T’s wireless network. The breach also includes records of AT&T’s landline customers who interacted with those cellular numbers within a specific timeframe.
It is important to note that the stolen data does not include Social Security numbers, dates of birth, or other personally identifiable information. However, AT&T acknowledges that there are ways to find the name associated with a specific telephone number using publicly available online tools.
AT&T has taken steps to close off the point of unlawful access and is notifying current and former customers of the breach. Customers can request details about the compromised data and how to make those requests on a specific page provided by AT&T.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Communications Commission are involved in the investigation of the breach. The FBI stated that they collaborated with AT&T and law enforcement to delay public reporting of the incident to address potential risks to national security and public safety.
This breach is unrelated to another recent leak involving the data of 73 million current and former subscribers. AT&T continues to work with authorities to address the breach and ensure the security of its customers’ data.
