Another massive data breach has impacted a major telecommunications provider in the US. AT&T passcodes have reportedly been compromised, putting the personal data of 73 million customers at risk.
A dataset from 2019 or earlier has been exposed, involving an estimated 7.6 million existing AT&T account holders and 65.4 million former account holders. In response, the company promptly initiated a passcode reset for current users and is actively engaging with both current and former account holders whose sensitive personal information may have been affected.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the exposed dataset includes specific fields associated with AT&T data and has surfaced on the dark web. Ongoing analysis aims to ascertain whether the information within these fields originated from AT&T itself or one of its affiliated vendors.
Personal details such as full names, email addresses, mailing addresses, phone numbers, social security numbers, dates of birth, and AT&T account numbers and passcodes are currently under evaluation. Notably, AT&T has stated that the compromised data does not encompass personal financial information or call records.
AT&T urges customers to exercise vigilance by closely monitoring their account activities and credit reports in light of this incident.
Compromised customer data is a lingering issue within the industry. T-Mobile has experienced the cybersecurity fiasco over the years, with the latest being in 2023, concerning 37 million customer data.