AT&T found itself in the pickle of all pickles over the weekend – it discovered that a data set released on the dark web contained AT&T data-specific fields. To stop any potential bleeding, the company has reset user passwords.
That’s not just current users, but former ones, too. AT&T said that based on its preliminary analysis, the data set appears to be from 2019 or earlier, impacting approximately 7.6 million current AT&T account holders and approximately 65.4 million former account holders.
The data exposed on the dark web contained sensitive information such as names, home addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers, along with customer account passcodes.
How this impacts AT&T customers
In addition to the password reset, AT&T figures that it should get proactive about whatever yuck from this heist rolls downhill. Knowing that the possibility is high that user data will likely be used by scammers in some fashion, the company will offer credit monitoring and fraud alerts to affected customers. It is communicating with affected consumers via email or letter to ensure the security of their accounts.
“As of today, this incident has not had a material impact on AT&T’s operations. We encourage current and former customers with questions to visit www.att.com/accountsafety for more information,” the company said in a statement.