On Friday, AT&T announced that the data of nearly all of their over 100 million customers was downloaded to a third-party platform in a security breach dating back to 2022. The affected parties include AT&T’s cellular customers, customers of mobile virtual network operators using AT&T’s wireless network, and other phone numbers that an AT&T wireless number interacted with during this time, including AT&T landline customers.
A company investigation determined that compromised data includes files containing AT&T records of calls and texts between May 1, 2022 and Oct. 31, 2022, as well as on Jan. 2, 2023. But they confirmed that the breach did not include the content of any said calls or texts, nor the timestamps. It also doesn’t have any details such as Social Security numbers, dates of birth, or other personally identifiable information.
The company has shared advice to customers on what the breach means for their data safety and how to protect themselves.
Luckily, AT&T does not believe that the data is publicly available, yet does not know what exactly is being done with it.
“We have confirmed that the affected third-party cloud-based workspace has been secured,” AT&T spokesperson Alex Byers told TIME in an emailed statement. “We sincerely regret this incident occurred and remain committed to protecting the information in our care.”
AT&T says it is contacting the customers whose data was compromised by the data breach. Customers can also check the status of their myAT&T, FirstNet, and business AT&T accounts to see if their data was affected through their account profile.
Until December 2024, those impacted by the data breach will be able to receive the phone numbers of the calls and texts compromised by the data breach. Current customers can request this data through their AT&T profile. Active AT&T wireless and home phone customers can get help here, while AT&T Prepaid customers can submit a data request.
Prior customers who were with AT&T during the affected time frame can access their breached data through a data request. If customers cannot provide their case number, they can still submit a legal demand subpoena to their registered agent, CT Corp, for handling and processing, according to AT&T.
AT&T’s website also recommends customers protect themselves from phishing and scamming through multiple avenues, including only opening text messages from people that customers know, never replying to a text from an unknown sender with personal details, going directly to a company’s website, and looking for the “s” after the http in the address of a website to ensure its security.
The telecommunications giant also recommended that customers forward suspicious text activity AT&T—a free service that does not count towards any text plan—and report fraud to AT&T’s fraud team.
