AT&T Breach Exposes Six Months of Call and Text Records

Hackers have stolen six months' worth of call and text message records from nearly every AT&T cellular network customer, the company announced on Friday. This breach has the potential to reveal sensitive information about millions of Americans. In an SEC filing, AT&T disclosed that an internal investigation revealed that hackers "unlawfully accessed and copied AT&T call logs" stored on a third-party cloud platform.

Scope of the Data Breach

The data breach encompasses records of calls and texts between approximately May 1 and October 31, 2022, as well as on January 2, 2023. Although the content of the calls and messages was not compromised, the records did include phone numbers. This type of information, known as metadata, is highly sensitive, especially when collected and analyzed at large scales to uncover patterns and connections between individuals. AT&T's wireless network connects 127 million devices, according to the company's 2023 annual report.