All posts tagged: ATT

AT&T Promo Code: Get a Gift Card Worth Up to 0

AT&T Promo Code: Get a Gift Card Worth Up to $200

Published by skeptic

Major wireless carriers: A necessary evil if you travel a lot, have a family, or are just interested in coverage that’s reliably consistent and widespread. AT&T is the third-largest provider in the US (first for 5G), with the largest coverage map. I’ve had various AT&T plans for more than a decade, first for just myself and now for my whole family, even though I only get one cell bar at my house and have to stand in one 5-square-foot patch of yard to make a phone call. And have lost entire days of my life to fighting unexpected random charges and upsells. (Verizon is somehow worse.) But anyway! AT&T is fine, it has all the latest phones, and there are some legitimately good perks, like no roaming in Canada or Mexico with select plans. If you know you’re going to have to go with one of the big guys, don’t sign up without checking out the below discounts first. Sign Up for AT&T Fiber and Get Up to $200 With This Coupon If you were …

The biggest data breaches in 2024: 1 billion stolen records and rising

Published by skeptic

We’re over halfway through 2024, and already this year we have seen some of the biggest, most damaging data breaches in recent history. And just when you think that some of these hacks can’t get any worse, they do. From huge stores of customers’ personal information getting scraped, stolen and posted online, to reams of medical data covering most people in the United States getting stolen, the worst data breaches of 2024 to date have already surpassed at least 1 billion stolen records and rising. These breaches not only affect the individuals whose data was irretrievably exposed, but also embolden the criminals who profit from their malicious cyberattacks. Travel with us to the not-so-distant past to look at how some of the biggest security incidents of 2024 went down, their impact and. in some cases, how they could have been stopped.  AT&T’s data breaches affect “nearly all” of its customers, and many more non-customers For AT&T, 2024 has been a very bad year for data security. The telecoms giant confirmed not one, but two separate …

AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile declare legal war on FCC

AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile declare legal war on FCC

Published by skeptic

The U.S.’s major wireless carriers are preparing to challenge the FCC over a fine totaling $200 million. In statements provided to Mashable, AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile signaled their intent to appeal the FCC’s fine, which was doled out to the companies for allegedly mishandling customers’ sensitive location-based data.  SEE ALSO: The FCC is reviving net neutrality. But what does that mean? Earlier this week, the FCC announced that it was fining AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile for allegedly selling access to its own customers’ location data to “aggregators.” The aggregators then resold this access to other third-party, location-based service providers.  In one specific case, one of these aggregators, a prison communication service company called Securus, provided access to a Mississippi sheriff who in turn used this data to track the location of people through their cell phones. AT&T, Verizon, & T-Mobile challenge the FCC According to the three big mobile carriers, the FCC is wrongly holding the big telecom companies responsible for the improper use of their customers’ data. “The FCC order lacks both legal …

T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon slapped with 0M fine — here’s what they illegally did with your data

T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon slapped with $200M fine — here’s what they illegally did with your data

Published by skeptic

What does AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile all have in common? Aside from being the four major mobile carriers in the U.S., these companies have also just been slapped with millions in fines from the FCC. Why? AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile allegedly provided location data to third parties without their users’ consent, which is illegal. “Our communications providers have access to some of the most sensitive information about us,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in a statement. “These carriers failed to protect the information entrusted to them. Here, we are talking about some of the most sensitive data in their possession: customers’ real-time location information, revealing where they go and who they are.”  FCC fines the biggest U.S. mobile carriers According to the FCC, T-Mobile has been fined the largest amount: $80 million. Sprint, which has merged with T-Mobile since the FCC’s investigation began, also received a $12 million fine. Mashable Light Speed AT&T will have to pay more than $57 million and Verizon will dole out close to $47 million. In total, the …

FCC Fines AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Almost 0 Million for Illegally Sharing Customer Location Data

FCC Fines AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Almost $200 Million for Illegally Sharing Customer Location Data

Published by skeptic

The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today announced [PDF] that it has fined AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint/T-Mobile $196 million collectively for illegally selling access to customer location information without consent. Sprint and T-Mobile (now merged into T-Mobile) have been fined $12 million and $80 million, respectively. Verizon has been fined almost $47 million, and AT&T has been fined more than $57 million. The FCC first began investigating the four major U.S. carriers in 2019 after they were found selling real-time location information from customer devices to third-party data aggregators, which led to that location data being sold a second time to private investigators, bounty hunters, law enforcement agencies, credit card companies, and more. Following the investigation, the FCC confirmed that wireless carriers had violated federal law by sharing consumer location data. Fines were proposed back in 2020, but carriers were given an opportunity to provide evidence and legal arguments against the decision before the fines were formally imposed. The fines vary based on the length of time that each carrier sold access to customer …

ACP Sees Its Final Days: Alternative Internet Assistance at AT&T, Verizon and More

ACP Sees Its Final Days: Alternative Internet Assistance at AT&T, Verizon and More

Published by skeptic

The Affordable Connectivity Program has reached its finals days. April is the last month enrollees will receive the full monthly benefit of $30 to $75, leaving more than 23 million households with significantly higher internet bills come May.  One in five Americans with internet subscriptions currently use the program to help pay for internet, and nearly half the households that take advantage of the ACP are military families, according to a White House fact sheet. Seniors, African Americans and Latinos also use the ACP at higher rates.  “It’s been the difference between choosing to have a roof over my head, whether to eat or whether to pay for the internet, which has things like virtual appointments with my psychiatrist,” Kenneth Sigler, a small-business owner from Hernando, Mississippi, who uses the ACP, told CNET. “It basically helps me to keep from having to choose what bills I’m going to pay.” There is some hope that the program will be extended eventually — President Joe Biden called on lawmakers to extend the program on April 2 — …

Data From 73 Million AT&T Accounts Stolen: How You Can Protect Yourself

Data From 73 Million AT&T Accounts Stolen: How You Can Protect Yourself

Published by skeptic

AT&T said hackers have stolen the personal information of 73 million current and former customers. The data, including Social Security numbers, appears to be from 2019 or earlier, AT&T said in a statement, and includes account information for approximately 7.6 million current account holders and 65.4 million former customers. The leak first came to light in 2021, when hackers claimed they’d stolen customer data from AT&T and would put the information up for sale. Fast-forward to March 2024, the stolen personal information was discovered on the dark web, according to Troy Hunt, creator of Have I Been Pwned.  In response, AT&T said it has contacted the 7.6 million current customers and has reset their passcodes. Whether you’re in the smaller set of current customers or the larger group of former account holders who think their data has been stolen in the breach, you can take steps to potentially lessen the damage of the breach. Read on for what you can do. AT&T didn’t immediately respond to CNET’s request for comment.  For more, here’s our picks for the …

AT&T Notifying Customers About Massive Data Leak

AT&T Notifying Customers About Massive Data Leak

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AT&T this week is letting customers and former customers know about a major data leak, and it is sending out emails and resetting passcodes to prevent unauthorized account access. 7.6 million customers and 65.4 million former customers have had their passcodes stolen and have had sensitive data leaked. AT&T claims that there was no unauthorized access to its systems resulting in the theft of the data set, with the information obtained several years ago. Back in 2021, a hacking group said that it had stolen information on 70 million AT&T customers. AT&T at the time said that it had not suffered a breach, and the company still insists that the data did not come from its systems. Customer information leaked includes names, addresses, birth dates, AT&T account numbers, phone numbers, email addresses, and social security numbers, along with passcodes. The data was not made public until March 2024, but now that it is out in the wild, AT&T has initiated passcode resets and says that it is working with external cybersecurity experts to further analyze …

AT&T vs. Xfinity: Customer-Friendly Fiber and Low-Cost Cable

AT&T vs. Xfinity: Customer-Friendly Fiber and Low-Cost Cable

Published by skeptic

Is AT&T or Xfinity internet better? A case could be made for either provider as the best overall, but given the choice of AT&T Fiber or Xfinity, I would recommend AT&T Fiber. Xfinity has a larger coverage area and lower introductory rates, but AT&T Fiber comes with no data caps, equipment fees, contracts or set price increases. Xfinity, on the other hand, is likely to come with some or all of those conditions depending on where you live and the plan you choose. AT&T and Xfinity are two of the largest internet service providers in the US, so one or both providers may be available at your address. If that’s the case, you’ll have a nice selection of high-speed, high-value plans. The fast speeds, fair pricing, and favorable service terms have earned both providers high customer satisfaction ratings. AT&T and Xfinity finished with above-average ratings among major internet providers in the most recent surveys from the American Customer Satisfaction Index and J.D. Power and Associates. Which of these two ISPs, AT&T or Xfinity best fits …

Millions of passcodes are reset after massive AT&T data leak

Millions of passcodes are reset after massive AT&T data leak

Published by skeptic

If I had to rank leaks, I’d say a leaky faucet is the second worst leak, bested only by the most devastating of all fissures: the data leak. And, boy, do we have a data leak on our hands. A huge cache of AT&T customers’ data, including Social Security numbers and encrypted passcodes that could be used to access customer accounts, was dumped online in March, forcing the telco giant to reset millions of customer account passcodes, TechCrunch learned in an exclusive. After a security researcher analyzed the leaked data and told the news outlet that the passcodes were “easy to decipher,” TechCrunch told AT&T. AT&T told TechCrunch that there isn’t any evidence just yet that anyone used this data leak to access customer’s information and accounts. SEE ALSO: 26 billion records have been leaked in ‘Mother of all Breaches,’ but don’t freak out In response, AT&T told the outlet: “AT&T has launched a robust investigation supported by internal and external cybersecurity experts. Based on our preliminary analysis, the data set appears to be from …