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"Nearly all" AT&T customers hacked by data breach – now what?

By ethanh // 2024-07-17

At least 109 million people living in the United States were hacked by UNC5537 after hackers from the group stole the call records of "nearly all" of AT&T's mobile phone subscribers. According to reports, not only were pretty much all of AT&T's 109 million subscribers affected, but so were all of the people they interacted with between May 1 and October 21, 2022. The hack specifically impacted AT&T's Snowflake storage system, which facilitates large-scale data warehousing and analytics in the cloud. Snowflake is now under scrutiny for a number of security lapses in recent years, including multiple instances in which users' credentials were stolen by hackers. Security firm Mandiant is credited with outing UNC5537 as the culprit in the latest Snowflake breach. Snowflake has since implemented stricter security measures, including mandatory multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all administrators. Reclaim the Net reported that the stolen data includes all call and text metadata transmitted through the AT&T system between the aforementioned dates. UNC5337 hackers stole said data between April 14 and April 25 of this year. "This metadata encompasses telephone numbers, interaction counts, and aggregate call durations, affecting not only AT&T's direct customers but also those of various mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs)," the watchdog reported. (Related: Did you know that all of the major cellphone carriers in the United States allow Big Government to rig and steal elections?)

Be careful: It's an ugly, dangerous world out there

Upon discovering the breach, AT&T is said to have taken immediate action. The carrier engaged with cybersecurity experts as well as contacted the FBI, which along with the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued an official statement about the matter. Upon investigation, both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the DOJ determined that both national security and public safety were put at risk by the breach. "We have taken steps to close off the illegal access points," the two federal agencies announced. "We are working with law enforcement in its efforts to arrest those involved in the incident. We understand that at least one person has been apprehended." AT&T customers are encouraged to take "several proactive steps to protect their personal information and reduce potential risks." Those steps include: 1) Paying close attention to suspicious calls and texts that could be phishing attempts. "Customers should be cautious about unsolicited communications asking for personal information or urging them to click on suspicious links." 2) Using MFA, which while required for administrators remains optional for everyone else. "Avoid using text messages as a form of account verification. This is when a company sends you a code by text message that you have to use to access your account. It's much safer to use a 2-factor authentication app." 3) Stick with app-based calling and texting rather than standard phone calls and SMS text messaging. "Phone carriers, by virtue of their central role in facilitating communications, inherently collect and store vast amounts of metadata related to phone calls and text messages. This metadata, which includes details such as call times, durations, and the numbers involved, can be highly sensitive. Despite its non-content nature, metadata can reveal intricate details about a person's life, habits and social networks." Reclaim the Net recommends using what are known as E2EE (end-to-end encryption) apps that ensure all messages, calls and files are encrypted on the sender's device, and that can only be decrypted on the recipient's device. "This means that no one in between, not even the service providers or potential interceptors, can read or listen to the content," the watchdog says. "This is crucial when the metadata (like call logs and contact numbers) is exposed, as the content of the communications remains secure." By the way, if you are interested in purchasing a smartphone that is "Google-less" and encrypted at the operating system level, check out Above Phone. More related news coverage can be found at CyberWar.news. Sources for this article include: ReclaimTheNet.org NaturalNews.com AbovePhone.com

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