Hackers Steal Phone, SMS Records for Nearly All AT&T Customers

Hackers breached AT&T's systems, exposing phone call and text message records for about 110 million customers. The incident, discovered in April, involved cyber intruders accessing a cloud database with customer interactions data. While the stolen records did not include personal information like names or Social Security numbers, they contained details that could reveal the location of cellular communication towers near customers. AT&T delayed disclosing the breach at the FBI's request due to national security concerns. The company stated that the stolen data could potentially be used to identify individuals through publicly available tools. This breach is part of a larger trend where major companies, including AT&T, store sensitive customer data with insufficient security measures. Despite the breach, AT&T does not anticipate a significant impact on its financial status. The incident follows a previous data breach in 2018 affecting millions of AT&T customers. The stolen data's primary value lies in revealing communication patterns rather than personal details, raising concerns about data security practices in the industry.