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AT&T Announces Data Breach Affecting 73 Million Current And Former Customers

Photo by PAU BARRENA/AFP via Getty Images)

Alexander Pease Contributor
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AT&T announced Saturday that personal information belonging to its former and current customers, some 73 million people, has been compromised on the dark web.

Among the personal information that is now out there on the unregulated dark web includes social security numbers, according to a press release by the major telecommunications provider. AT&T stated that it still unsure if the data breach occurred on its end or from one of its vendors, but noted it occurred approximately two weeks ago.


Preliminary findings from an internal probe determined that the data set impacted by the breach dates back to 2019 or earlier. (RELATED: SURABIAN: Are Our Cars Bigger Data Threats Than Big Tech?)

As for current AT&T customers, 7.3 million of them are victim to the data breach. The bulk of the compromised information belongs to former clients, with the figure estimated at some 65.4 million former account holders being negatively impacted by the breach.

“Currently, AT&T does not have evidence of unauthorized access to its systems resulting in exfiltration of the data set,” the statement read.

The company noted that it will provide credit monitoring services at its expense. AT&T provides telecommunication services to over 100 million clients, according to the company website.