The AT&T Data Breach: Here’s What We Know

AT&T is a well-known American-based telecommunication company that provides telecommunications services that is headquartered in Texas. AT&T is also said to have suffered an AT&T data breach and in this blog, we’re looking at the possible data breach that is said to have occurred in 2024.

What is AT&T?

AT&T is one of the most well-known telecommunication companies in America. The company is headquartered in Texas, USA, and according to Statista, AT&T had served just over 222 million customers in 2023 alone. AT&T was founded in 1877 – the company is in good standing to this day, and that can mean only one thing: the products of the company are great (or at least, good enough) to be used again, again, and again.

AT&T powers a lot of communication as it’s said to be the second-largest wireless carrier in the US, however, even extremely large companies are not exempt from data breaches happening every day, and the recent rumors about the AT&T data breach only confirm this. But did the data breach happen? If it did, how? What data classes did it expose? Let’s find out.

Possible AT&T Data Breach

In early March 2024, AT&T determined that data that may originate from the systems of AT&T appeared on the dark web. According to AT&T, the source of the leak is still under investigation – the information available on the web shows that the data is likely to originate from AT&T and is likely to be from 2019 or earlier and, according to AT&T, impacts around 8 million current customers of AT&T: the rest of the current customers are likely to remain unaffected, but the data set doesn’t end here – it’s said to also include data on over 65 million former customers of AT&T, too. The recently leaked data set is said to include extremely sensitive data, such as SSN numbers, but at the same time in regards to the AT&T data breach, AT&T is saying that it doesn’t have any evidence of illegal access to its systems, though its customers are advised to follow account security and safely guidelines where applicable.

The bottom line is this: after a robust, extensive investigation by both external and internal experts, AT&T is still unable to say that the 2024 data breach was a result of a nefarious party obtaining access to the internal systems of AT&T.

However, it is useful to remember that AT&T is said to have suffered a data breach impacting around nine million customers in 2023 too – it was likely to come from an AT&T data breach itself, but rather, one of AT&T’s vendors that AT&T uses for marketing operations. Could that be the case for the recent 2024 AT&T data breach too? Time will tell.

Possible AT&T Data Breach in 2021

AT&T doesn’t come into the spotlight only a data breach connected with the company in 2024 – a couple of years ago, in August of 2021, a data set said to have originated from AT&T was published on the web too. The data set was alleged to include customer names, social security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, phone numbers, and other information and was auctioned on the now-defunct hacking forum RaidForums. Security researchers quickly chimed in and told sources like BleepingComputer that some of the accounts in the sample data were confirmed to come from AT&T, but didn’t confirm whether the data breach is authentic. As for the data set released in 2021 that was an alleged AT&T data breach, AT&T has launched an investigation into the matter, and as a result, denied suffering a data breach shortly after.

This news emerged after a different malicious party tried to sell data about around 100 million customers of T-Mobile: T-Mobile then apparently confirmed a data breach, albeit at a smaller scale that impacted around 48 million people.

The AT&T Data Breach in 2015

Nonetheless, news about the AT&T data breach seems to be hitting the headlines frequently; even almost a decade ago, in 2015, an AT&T data breach exposed the data of around 280,000 customers including their names and social security numbers, and it seemed to be particularly painful for the company: the former AT&T data breach cost AT&T $25 million in a civil penalty by the Federal Communications Commission. Back in 2015, the AT&T data breach was said to have occurred at the call centers of AT&T in three locations: the Philippines, Colombia, and Mexico. The AT&T data breach in 2015 is said to have occurred when the employees of AT&T accessed customer data without proper authorization: three employees accessed customer data in Mexico and approximately 40 employees in the Philippines and Colombia also accessed customer data for alleged illicit purposes.

The AT&T data breach in 2015 is significantly less painful than the data breach in 2021 because 6 years later, the company might have expanded, it might’ve procured a bunch of new customers (millions of them!), and naturally, the more data a company has, the more attractive of a target it becomes for fraudsters, hackers, and data thieves in general.

Data Breach Search Engines

To protect your company and yourself from a data breach similar to the AT&T data breach, make good use of data breach search engines like the one found on BreachDirectory: the BreachDirectory data breach search engine can be used free of charge and it can help you quickly secure yourself, your team and your loves ones from an impending identity theft attack:

Should you want API access to the same data breaches, the BreachDirectory API can help you quickly secure yourself and your company too: BreachDirectory’s bulk API access feature will help you query the BreachDirectory API in bulk (in other words, with a list of accounts) and access to such a data breach API will certainly be less painful than paying for a data breach similar to the AT&T data breach in that happened in 2024, 2021, or 2015.

Make use of the data breach API capabilities provided by data breach search engines: not only will they protect you from upcoming identity theft attacks, but also give you peace of mind as far as the security of your organization is concerned.

Summary

Data breaches are never something you want to hear about, especially not if they concern your company. The stories about the AT&T data breach that happened in 2024, 2021, or 2015 are proof of that – one wrong step and you may end up with millions of lost user credentials and a fine costing you millions of dollars.

That’s why it’s so vital to protect yourself from data breaches and potential thieves waiting to launch identity theft attacks – use data breach search engines such as the one provided by BreachDirectory and make sure that your company, yourself, and your close ones are aware of the danger of data breaches all the time.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the AT&T Data Breach About?

The recent AT&T data breach news pertain to the recent 2024 AT&T data breach that AT&T is said to have suffered. The data breach is said to impact around 8 million current customers of AT&T and around 65 former customers, too.

Are There Other Data Breaches Similar to the AT&T Data Breach I Should Be Informed About?

Yes – aside from AT&T suffering similar data breaches in 2021 and 2015, there are loads of opportunities for nefarious parties to come and steal your data. In 2024, United Healthcare is said to have suffered a data breach impacting almost one-third of U.S. citizens, NHS was on the radar of nefarious parties too (source: The Guardian), and schools are a target too. Always be updated on the latest data breach trends by following blogs by BreachDirectory and other vendors.

How to Protect Myself From Data Breaches?

A good way to protect yourself from data breaches is by staying updated about the latest trends in cyber security, following blogs, and making use of data breach search engines and APIs such as the data breach search engine by BreachDirectory.

What are Some of the Best Practices to Protect Yourself From Identity Theft?

Some of the best practices helping to protect yourself from identity theft and similar attacks include:

• Never use the same password across multiple systems.
• Stay updated on the latest in cyber security by reading blogs, attending conferences, and constantly learning.
• Update and patch your systems frequently.
• Make use of data breach search engines to see if your data is exposed in a data breach.