AT&T Data Breach

AT&T recently announced that the sensitive information of over 70 million of its current and former customers was released on the “dark web.” Current and former AT&T customers may be entitled to compensation.

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What Happened?

AT&T recently announced a data breach may have exposed confidential information for millions of current and former customers. If you were an AT&T customer for phone, internet, or television services (such as DirecTV or AT&T TV) as of 2019 or prior, your data may have been compromised, and we can help navigate the next steps to answer your questions.

For more information on the incident, read here:

• Keep Your Account Secure – AT&T Bill & Account Customer Support
• AT&T Data Breach: Find Out If You Were Affected – AP News

What Personal Information Is at Issue?

Although AT&T says its investigation is ongoing, it has already concluded that the leaked data may have included full name, email address, mailing address, phone number, social security number, date of birth,  AT&T account number, and passcode for current and former customers as of 2019, which includes millions of individuals who are currently AT&T customers and tens of millions of former customers.

What Are Data Breaches?

Data breaches occur when a malicious third party, such as a computer hacker, gains access to sensitive consumer and other data held by a business who was entrusted to protect it. Frequently, data breaches are the result of insufficient data security, allowing hackers to illegally gain access to the data and either misuse it themselves (e.g., for identity theft or fraud) or sell or trade that data with others, often on the “dark web”.

Unfortunately, in the modern age, data breaches have become a fact of life. Where data breaches are the result of insufficient protections put in place by the breached business, however, the business may be required to compensate the victims whose personal data was improperly accessed.

What are the Risks of Data Breaches?

Being the victim of a data breach in which criminal actors may have access to personal information can be a stressful and frightening experience. Data breaches can place the victims at an increased risk of fraud or identity theft, as their stolen data can be misused by criminal actors, often long after the breach itself. For example, where a username and password are disclosed as part of a data breach, bad actors might make use of that information to illegally access accounts.

In some cases, the information disclosed through a data breach can be profitable to criminals immediately, who may use stolen login information to commit fraud and identity theft. In other cases, the personal information disclosed is bought and sold online where it can be combined with data from other sources (including other data breaches.) In other words, it is often impossible to know the true risks and effects of a data breach until long after the breach has occurred, as criminals may be analyzing and aggregating the stolen data into comprehensive identity theft packages. This is why holding businesses accountable is important.

What Can I Do?

Unfortunately, any data disclosed as part of a data breach has effectively entered the public domain and may be repeatedly accessed, traded, bought, and sold by criminal actors online.

The first thing to do when discovering that you have been victimized in a data breach is to immediately change login information such as passwords to a new and unique password for the affected account.

Once passwords have been updated to new, unique, and strong passwords, an affected person should continue to monitor account activity and credit reports, to ensure that their information has not been misused. Suspicious activity should be reported directly to the bank or card provider where the account is maintained. Enrolling in identity theft protection services may also offer protection, but data breach victims should still monitor accounts for suspicious activity.

Victims of data breaches should also strongly consider taking action against the business that experienced, and may be responsible for, the breach. If you have been impacted by the AT&T data breach, you can contact our team of attorneys today to receive a free case evaluation. If you are entitled to compensation, our attorneys will analyze your case and, if appropriate, pursue a claim on your behalf to seek the best possible compensation for your loss.

You can access a detailed list of reported data breaches using the websites of the California and Maine Attorneys General:

California: https://oag.ca.gov/ecrime/databreach/reports/sb24-567260

Maine: https://apps.web.maine.gov/online/aeviewer/ME/40/895b95c8-abc8-41f1-8c3f-b0415575de56.shtml

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