AT&T Faces Major Data Breach Affecting Millions
AT&T has disclosed a significant data breach, putting the personal information of over 80 million customers at risk.
Reportedly, more than 86 million individuals are affected, with leaked data that includes names, birth dates, email addresses, phone numbers, physical addresses, and Social Security numbers of about 44 million people.
This breach raises serious concerns about potential fraud and identity theft for millions.
According to sources, the compromised data was decrypted and first appeared on a Russian cybercrime forum on May 15. It was uploaded again on June 3.
The hackers gained access to accounts without requiring multifactor authentication, linking this incident to a previous hack by the Shinyhunters group in April 2024.
“It’s not unusual for cybercriminals to repackage previously exposed data for profit,” an AT&T representative stated. “We have initiated a full investigation into claims that AT&T data is being circulated on the Dark Web.”
The initial seller of the leaked data claims it stemmed from “one of the databases from snowflake violations.” However, reports indicate this breach involves nearly 16 million more records than previous incidents.
AT&T has acknowledged skepticism from security researchers regarding the connection to last year’s breach.
“Following analyses by our internal team and external data consultants, we believe this data is repackaged from information released on the Dark Web in March 2024,” the company said. “At that time, we notified affected customers and informed law enforcement about this new development.”
If you want to check whether your information has been compromised in this breach, you can visit Pentester, a cybersecurity firm, at npd.pentester.com and enter your details to view a list of compromised accounts.
Experts also advise customers to monitor their credit reports regularly.
