In a Saturday announcement addressing the data breach,
Whether the data “originated from
Here's what you need to know.
WHAT INFORMATION WAS COMPROMISED IN THIS BREACH?
Although varying by each customer and account,
Full names, email addresses, mailing address, phone numbers, dates of birth and AT&T account numbers may have also been compromised. The impacted data is from 2019 or earlier and does not appear to include financial information or call history, the company said.
HOW DO I KNOW IF I WAS AFFECTED?
Consumers impacted by this breach should be receiving an email or letter directly from
WHAT ACTION HAS AT&T TAKEN?
Beyond these notifications,
HAS AT&T SEEN DATA BREACHES LIKE THIS BEFORE?
While the company says the data in this latest breach surfaced on a hacking forum nearly two weeks ago, it closely resembles a similar breach that surfaced in 2021 but which
“If they assess this and they made the wrong call on it, and we’ve had a course of years pass without them being able to notify impacted customers,” then it’s likely the company will soon face class action lawsuits, said Hunt, founder of an
A spokesperson for
HOW CAN I PROTECT MYSELF GOING FORWARD?
Avoiding data breaches entirely can be tricky in our ever-digitized world, but consumers can take some steps to help protect themselves going forward.
The basics include creating hard-to-guess passwords and using multifactor authentication when possible. If you receive a notice about a breach, it's good idea to change your password and monitor account activity for any suspicious transactions. You'll also want to visit a company's official website for reliable contact information — as scammers sometimes try to take advantage of news like data breaches to gain your trust through look-alike phishing emails or phone calls.
In addition, the
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