AT&T Data Breach Exposes Personal Info of 73 Million Users

AT&T, a leading U.S. telecommunications company, announced on Saturday, March 30, that it had discovered a data breach affecting the personal information of 73 million current and former users. This breach, recently uncovered by the company, involved sensitive details such as social security numbers, addresses, and passwords found on the dark web about two weeks ago. The leaked data may also contain users’ full names, email and postal addresses, phone numbers, and birthdates.

The cybersecurity incident has affected approximately 7.6 million active and 65.4 million former AT&T account holders. In response, AT&T has initiated the process of informing millions of affected customers and has enlisted the help of cybersecurity professionals to delve into the matter. For current users, the company has reset passwords as a precautionary measure and promises to notify all individuals whose personal information was compromised.

AT&T noted that the compromised data appears to date back to 2019 or earlier, and it remains unclear whether the leak originated directly from AT&T or one of its partners. The company has advised customers to stay alert by monitoring their account activities and credit reports, although it believes the breach has not significantly affected its operational activities.

Troy Hunt, a cybersecurity expert and creator of the website Have I Been Pwned?, remarked that the information from this breach closely mirrors data from a previously unacknowledged breach in 2021. Hunt suggested that AT&T could face legal challenges if it’s determined that the company failed to notify affected customers in a timely manner.

AT&T’s 5G network services approximately 290 million people across the U.S., making it a major player in the mobile and internet service industry.

This disclosure follows a significant service outage last month that impacted over 70,000 AT&T customers in several states, including Texas, Florida, and California, leading to federal investigations. AT&T attributed the outage to a coding error, denying any malicious intent behind the incident.