Social Security number and passcodes for about 7.6 million current account statement holders and 65.4 million former account holders were posted on the " dark web , " AT&T said .
NEW YORK ( AP ) — The larceny of sensitive selective information belong tomillions of AT&T ’s current and former customershas been recently come upon online , the telecom giant said this weekend .
In a Saturday announcement call the data breach , AT&T said that a dataset found on the “ dark internet ” contains information including some Social Security numbers and passcodes for about 7.6 million current account holders and 65.4 million former write up holders .
Whether the data point “ originated from AT&T or one of its vendors ” is still unknown , the Dallas - based fellowship noted — adding that it had launched an investigating into the incident . AT&T has also commence advise customer whose personal information was compromised .
Here’s what you need to know.
What information was compromised in this breach?
Although varying by each customer and account , AT&T say that selective information involve in this breach included Social Security act and passcodes — which , unlike watchword , are mathematical PINS that are typically four digits long .
Full epithet , email speech , mailing address , phone numbers , dates of birth and AT&T account numbers game may have also been compromise . The impact information is from 2019 or earlier and does not appear to let in financial information or call story , the company order .
How do I know if I was affected?
Consumers touch by this breach should be receiving an email or letter now from AT&T about the incident . The email notice get going out on Saturday , an AT&T spokesperson confirmed to The Associated Press .
What action has AT&T taken?
Beyond these notifications , AT&T articulate that it had already reset the passcodes of current users . The company tally that it would pay for course credit monitoring Service where applicable .
AT&T also said that it “ establish a robust investigating ” with national and external cybersecurity expert to investigate the situation further .
Has AT&T seen data breaches like this before?
AT&T has determine several data breaches that range in size and impactover the years .
While the caller says the datum in this modish rupture surfaced on a hacking forum most two weeks ago , it nearly resembles a similar falling out that show up in 2021 but which AT&T never recognize , cybersecurity investigator Troy Hunttold the AP Saturday .
“ If they evaluate this and they made the wrong call on it , and we ’ve had a trend of old age pass without them being able to notify touch customer , ” then it ’s likely the company will presently front category action suit , said Hunt , founder of an Australia - based website that warns people when their personal information has been discover .
A spokesperson for AT&T declined to comment further when asked about these similarities Sunday .
How can I protect myself going forward?
Avoiding data severance entirely can be knavish in our ever - digitized world , but consumers can take some steps to facilitate protect themselves going forward .
The basics include create hard - to - opine parole and usingmultifactor authenticationwhen possible . If you receive a poster about a breach , it ’s good idea to alter your word and monitor account action for any suspicious transactions . You ’ll also want to chit-chat a society ’s official site for reliable contact data — as scammer sometimes endeavor to take advantage of news like data breaches to make headway your reliance through search - likewise phishing emails or phone vociferation .
In addition , the Federal Trade Commissionnotesthat countrywide credit bureaus — such as Equifax , Experian , and TransUnion — put up free credit rating freezes and dupery alert that consumers can set up to help protect themselves from identity element theft and other malicious activity . This clause in the beginning come out onHuffPost .
