AT&T outlines steps to be taken after learning passcodes of 7.6 million customers were leaked

AT&T outlines steps to be taken after learning passcodes of 7.6 million customers were leaked،

AT&T has reset account access codes for customers affected by a massive data breach. The company will also contact customers whose sensitive personal information has been compromised and offer them free credit and identity theft monitoring services.

In 2021, AT&T said that information belonging to 71 million customers that a hacker sold online did not come from an alleged breach, despite evidence to the contrary. The hacker who claimed to have broken into AT&T's systems said, “I don't care if they don't admit it. I'm just selling.”

In addition, BeepComputer spoke with more than 50 AT&T and DirectTV customers who said the leaked data contained information about them that was only known to AT&T, such as email accounts they used only for services provided by the operator.

It has now emerged that the data also contained the passwords customers use to access their accounts. TechCrunch says the mass reset was initiated after informing AT&T on Monday that passcodes had also been leaked along with other information.

AT&T says on its website that 7.6 million current customers and 65.4 million former customers were affected by the data breach. The carrier believes the data is from 2019 or earlier. Here is an excerpt from the statement:

We have noticed that a number of AT&T passcodes have been compromised. We are contacting the 7.6 million affected customers and have reset their access codes. Additionally, we will contact current and former account holders whose sensitive personal information has been compromised.

Our internal teams work with external cybersecurity experts to analyze the situation. To our knowledge, the compromised data appears to be from 2019 or earlier and does not contain personal financial information or call history.

We encourage customers to remain vigilant by monitoring account activity and credit reports.

This is the first time that AT&T has admitted that the data leaked by the hackers belongs to its customers, without knowing whether it came from its systems or from one of its suppliers.

A password is a four-digit PIN and is not the same thing as a password. It adds an extra layer of security to customer accounts and is required when receiving customer support or managing accounts in stores.

AT&T has already reset the passcodes of customers affected by the leak. It still recommends that you change yours if you have been using the same password for a year.