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AT&T Breached, Exposes 19,000 Identities

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the somewhat-worse-than-a-laptop dept.

mytrip writes to tell us News.com is reporting that a recent attack on AT&T's systems saw thousands of customers' personal data compromised. About 19,000 customers of AT&T's online store who purchased equipment for a DSL connection were affected. From the article: "AT&T is offering to pay for credit monitoring services for customers whose accounts have been impacted because they could be at risk of identity fraud. The company also has made available a toll-free number to affected customers to call for more information."

11 of 143 comments (clear)

  1. O RLY? by abscissa · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They will pay for credit monitoring services, but will they pay for all the liability from a stolen ID? That can reach into the hundreds of thousands of dollars in real damage.

    1. Re:O RLY? by TIMxPx · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Good point. I suppose that a person releasing 1 million copies of a CD should expect the same level of privacy as a person who submits encrypted credit card information. Oh wait, maybe not.

      --
      There are 10 kinds of people in the world: That averages about 660,000,000 of each kind.
    2. Re:O RLY? by jackbird · · Score: 4, Insightful
      It wasn't stolen, it was "shared". Making a copy doesn't take anything away from the original owners, right? They still have their names, social security numbers, etc.

      That's true. And if the identity thieves stop there, simply filing their collection of stolen identities away and displaying a few choice specimens above the mantle for when guests come over, I don't have a problem with it (well a small one, but I can deal).

      When the identity thieves use those stolen identities to clean out bank accounts, take out fradulent loans, and steal real, physical goods using credit cards in the victim's name, then they do take something the owner no longer has. IHBT. HAND.

  2. Thats exactly why... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I choose to be an Anonymous Coward.

  3. Look, shit happens to the best of us. by Pink+Tinkletini · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm not saying AT&T is "the best of us," but your proposed remedies are fucking childish. Do you also support capital punishment for late pizza delivery?

    --
    And now, a PSA from David Lynch.
  4. Re:Only "thousands"? by azaroth42 · · Score: 3, Insightful


    Will the CTO of AT&T resign like AOL's did over the search history release, which was significantly less damaging than this.

    I'm putting my money on No, personally.

    -- Azaroth

  5. Stop collecting SS# by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    These companies need to stop collecting this information in the first place. There is no need for AT&T to have this at all to do their business. Last I checked they aren't the Social Security department.

  6. Good for them by Rogerborg · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The news here isn't that some incompetent set up their systems, nor that they were cracked. The news is that they've responded openly and meaningfully, without trying to deny it or play down the scale of what happened. I wouldn't be hurrying to sign up to their service because of it, but it certainly doesn't bias me against them. Honesty and integrity are rare enough qualities in corporations that we should applaud them when they claw their way past the lawyers and PR weasels.

    --
    If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
  7. Re:Only "thousands"? by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 5, Insightful

    To you and the GP:
    This was a break-in, not a "spill", which was detected by AT;&T, on the weekend at which time they took very active measures (shutting down the site and contacting credit card companies). Sounds to me like they have some pretty good procedures in place already; you know, the kind of thing a CTO is responsible for.

    --
    No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
  8. It looks like . . . by Don_dumb · · Score: 3, Insightful

    . . . AOL is off the hook.

    --
    If this were really happening, what would you think?
  9. Steal identity? by homer_s · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How can anyone steal someone else's identity? Oh, you mean they stole people's social security numbers. That should not be a problem, because as we all know, ss numbers are not meant to be used for identification.

    The real problem is companies and the govt using SS# for identification. At this point, about 50 ppl know my SS# - the librarian, the assistant at my school, the clerk in the bank, etc, etc. - so any of these people can harm if they don't like me for some reason? This is stupid.

    So what next? Some company decides they are going to use FIRSTNAME_LASTNAME as the id and we are all supposed to keep our names a secret? And run around complaining when our 'identity' (FIRSTNAME_LASTNAME) is stolen?

    In many countries, you need a notarised signature to obtain loans, etc. While not foolproof, you can always prove it was not you and it takes more effort to commit fraud.