Two U.S. senators on Tuesday asked AT&T to answer questions about a massive hacking incident in April that resulted in the illegal downloading of about 109 million customer accounts at the U.S. wireless company.
Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat who chairs a subcommittee on investigations and Republican Josh Hawley, sought details after AT&T disclosed on Friday its call logs were copied from its workspace on a Snowflake cloud platform covering about six months of customer call and text data from 2022 from nearly all its customers.
"The stolen information can easily provide cybercriminals, spies, and stalkers a logbook of the communications and activities of AT&T customers over several months, including where those customers live and travelled — a stunning and dangerous breach of its customers’ privacy and intrusion into their personal lives," the letter to AT&T CEO John Stankey said, asking if the wireless company will compensate consumers.
AT&T said it would respond directly to the senators.
"There is no reason to believe that AT&T’s sensitive data will not also be auctioned and fall into the hands of criminals and foreign intelligence agencies," the senators added.
Snowflake did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a separate letter to Snowflake, the senators raised concerns about other recent data breaches of Snowflake clients.
"The recent AT&T disclosure — three months after the breach and following other announced breaches — raises concerns that we still do not know the full scope or impact of the campaign targeting Snowflake customers," the senators wrote.
The FBI is investigating. AT&T said at least one person has been arrested. AT&T's breach is the latest big hack to hit a wide swath of Americans, coming on the heels of a ransomware attack on UnitedHealth Change Healthcare unit in February that hit an estimated one-third of the country whose private data may have been exposed.
The Federal Communications Commission said it also has an ongoing investigation.
In March, AT&T said it was investigating a data set released on the "dark web" and said its preliminary analysis showed it affected approximately 7.6 million current account holders and 65.4 million former account holders. The company said the data set appeared to be from 2019 or earlier.
Latest Stories
-
CHAN 2024Q: ‘It’s still an open game’ – Didi on Ghana’s draw with Nigeria
5 minutes -
CHAN 2024Q: Ghana’s Black Galaxies held by Nigeria in first-leg tie
1 hour -
Dr Nduom hopeful defunct GN bank will be restored under Mahama administration
2 hours -
Bridget Bonnie celebrates NDC Victory, champions hope for women and youth
2 hours -
Shamima Muslim urges youth to lead Ghana’s renewal at 18Plus4NDC anniversary
3 hours -
Akufo-Addo condemns post-election violence, blames NDC
3 hours -
DAMC, Free Food Company, to distribute 10,000 packs of food to street kids
4 hours -
Kwame Boafo Akuffo: Court ruling on re-collation flawed
4 hours -
Samuel Yaw Adusei: The strategist behind NDC’s electoral security in Ashanti region
5 hours -
I’m confident posterity will judge my performance well – Akufo-Addo
5 hours -
Syria’s minorities seek security as country charts new future
5 hours -
Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo re-appointed as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana
6 hours -
German police probe market attack security and warnings
6 hours -
Grief and anger in Magdeburg after Christmas market attack
6 hours -
Baltasar Coin becomes first Ghanaian meme coin to hit DEX Screener at $100K market cap
6 hours