OAN Staff Abril Elfi
12:49 PM – Tuesday, September 17, 2024
AT&T has agreed to pay $13 million following an investigation over a data breach of a cloud vendor that impacted at least 8.9 million customers.
On Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said that the company agreed to pay the hefty fine in order to resolve the investigation.
The FCC has stated that the fine will resolve the investigation over legal disputes related to whether the company has failed to protect its customers” information.
They also added that AT&T has agreed to boost its data governance practices so that supply chain integrity in handling sensitive data to protect customers from breaches in the future will increase.
The commission noted that the data exposed in 2023 covered clients from 2015 through 2017. However, they also argued that the data should have been deleted in 2017 or 2018.
The breached data included the number of lines on an account, and in some cases, the bill balance and rate plan information. Nonetheless, they also claimed that it did not contain credit card information, account passwords, Social Security numbers, and other sensitive personal information.
They also noted that the prior vendor had experienced a hacking incident, which exposed customer data.
“Though our systems were not compromised in this incident, we’re making enhancements to how we manage customer information internally, as well as implementing new requirements on our vendors’ data management practices,” AT&T stated.
“Carriers have a duty to protect the privacy and security of consumer data, and that responsibility takes on new meaning for digital age data breaches,” FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said.
Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts