AT&T : Unlawful access of customer data

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https://www.att.com/support/article/my-account/000102979

What happened
We learned that AT&T customer data was illegally downloaded from our workspace on a third-party cloud platform. We started an investigation and engaged leading cybersecurity experts to help us determine the nature and scope of the issue. We have confirmed the access point has been secured.

Our investigation found that the downloaded data included phone call and text message records of nearly all of AT&T cellular customers from May 1, 2022 to October 31, 2022 as well as on January 2, 2023. …

The call and text records identify the phone numbers with which an AT&T number interacted during this period, including AT&T landline (home phone) customers. It also included counts of those calls or texts and total call durations for specific days or months.

We’ll notify current and former customers if their information was involved…

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Mr. Austin

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Why keep two year old data on some third party cloud somewhere?

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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@SusanBradley A very germane question. Which they will resist answering.

Human, who sports only naturally-occurring DNA ~ oneironaut ~ broadcaster

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This also showed up in one of my social media feeds. No mobile provider is ever to be trusted. Not even one of them. And DOJ and FBI ruined their trusts decades ago. I use secured communications for my most sensitive stuff. I tend to avoid phones if I want something to be away from the more common network sniffers.

Human, who sports only naturally-occurring DNA ~ oneironaut ~ broadcaster

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Susan Bradley wrote:

Why keep two year old data on some third party cloud somewhere?

Where should they keep the data if not on cloud providers (AWS, Microsoft Azur, Google..) ?

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Mr. Austin

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No, why is there a need for two year old data?  Someone is having to pay for storage.

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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I downloaded the AT&T records of a good friend whose phone number was compromised in the theft. AT&T’s retrieval process was ‘secured’ by needing password and user name access.

From what I’ve seen AT&T and all concerned are being truly disingenuous at best. And they don’t look like they know what they’re doing based on the wording of the screenshot.

And they included columns for cell tower location and ID in which they omitted all data. So I wonder, did they omit the data because AT&T didn’t want to provide it, or because those data are claimed to not be part of the theft?

Human, who sports only naturally-occurring DNA ~ oneironaut ~ broadcaster

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Susan Bradley wrote:

why is there a need for two year old data?

Maybe for customers (FBI) inquiries ?

* Your bank holds your transactions… data forever.

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AT&T Paid a Hacker $370,000 to Delete Stolen Phone Records

US telecom giant AT&T, which disclosed Friday that hackers had stolen the call records for tens of millions of its customers, paid a member of the hacking team more than $300,000 to delete the data and provide a video demonstrating proof of deletion…

* Isn’t it unlawful by US laws to pay ransom to hackers?

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Perfect. NOT!! Let your customers’ data be stolen, and then pay a ransom! Compounding the thoughtless ignorance?

Human, who sports only naturally-occurring DNA ~ oneironaut ~ broadcaster

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While using a ransom payment for anything is illegal in the US, it’s not illegal to pay a ransom.

However, US/local governments, cybersecurity experts and law enforcement agencies all strongly discouraged doing so as it just encourages future such attacks.

The US Department of the Treasury has also issued an advisory warning companies they could face possible legal trouble as such payments “may” violate Office of Foreign Assets Control regulations.

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Mr. Austin, Alex5723

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Here is a better account in detail of the hack and ransom concerning stolen records of ATT customers. Better to get the info from a reliable source. And this link at 9To5Mac seems to include all the details of an accurate and thorough account, to date. Current as of July 15.
https://9to5mac.com/2024/07/15/att-hack-ransom-fbi/

MacOS iPadOS and sometimes SOS

4 users thanked author for this post.

Lars220, Mr. Austin, SueW, TechTango

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OK, people (bots please look away ). Here’s AT&T’s notice to a friend about their account dated today.

The usual disingenuous statement for the record. And when AT&T writes that no really important data were stolen, why should anyone trust that if the theft occurred in the first place? *I* sure wouldn’t.

Human, who sports only naturally-occurring DNA ~ oneironaut ~ broadcaster

2 users thanked author for this post.

Lars220, Alex5723

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