AT&T marketing vendor subject of a recent cybercriminal activity

America’s multinational telecommunications holding company, AT&T, notified millions of its customers about the sensitive data caused by a hack in one of its vendors a few months ago.

The company stated that one of its Customers’ Propriety Network Information exposed some of its wireless accounts. The data exposure included numerous lines on an account or wireless rate plan.

Fortunately, the hack did not include critical data like credit card information, account passwords, or Social Security Numbers. Currently, the company deployed notifications to affected individuals.

However, the cybersecurity incident against AT&T has still affected about nine million wireless accounts in their Customer Propriety Network Information.

 

AT&T revealed that the incident impacted the basic information of their customers.

 

The exposed CPNI data includes first names, wireless account numbers, wireless phone numbers, email addresses, rate plan names, monthly payment amounts, past due amounts, and various monthly charges and minutes consumed.

The telecommunication company also explained that its systems did not receive any impact from the incident as it only compromised one of its marketing vendors. Hence, the incident might have only affected the information within its vendor.

AT&T has contacted relevant law enforcement agencies regarding the unauthorised access of its Customer Propriety Network Information since the Federal Communications Commission requires all organisations to report any cybersecurity incidents.

The company clarified that their reports on the law enforcement agency did not include specific information regarding their customers’ accounts. Hence, customers should know that the company only reported the unauthorised access earlier this week.

Experts recommned that affected AT&T customers should deactivate the CPNI data-sharing feature on their accounts to reduce the risk in the CPNI Restriction Request if the company uses it for their third-party marketing endeavours.

Cybersecurity experts suggest that customers brace for impending phishing attacks or unsolicited communications since the data exposure includes email addresses. Affected individuals should be wary of accessing unwanted emails since they could potentially contain malware-laden links or attachments.