AT&T reportedly paid hacker nearly $400,000 to delete stolen customer data
AT&T Data Breach: What You Need to Know
OnDefend CEO Chris Freedman discusses the AT&T data breach with WJXT News4Jax.
You can watch the full interview here:
The Breach Details: The breach, which primarily involved data from 2022, impacted AT&T’s cellular customers, customers of mobile virtual network operators using AT&T’s wireless network, and landline customers who interacted with those cellular numbers. In total, approximately 109 million customer accounts were affected. AT&T has confirmed that the compromised data does not include the content of calls or texts, personal information such as Social Security numbers, dates of birth, or other personally identifiable information.
Nature of the Compromised Data: Although the data does not contain sensitive personal information or detailed usage specifics like call timestamps or customer names, there is a potential risk. AT&T acknowledged that publicly available online tools might be used to find names associated with specific telephone numbers.
Ransom Payment: In an unusual turn of events, AT&T reportedly paid a hacker over $370,000 to delete the stolen customer data. However, there is uncertainty about whether the payment went to the actual perpetrators of the breach.
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Story Originally aired on News4Jax: Data of nearly all AT&T customers downloaded from a third-party platform in security breach (news4jax.com)