AT&T disclosed earlier this week that it is the latest company to have been subject to a data breach. An employee allegedly gained unauthorized access to customer data and may have obtained Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers among other details, according to telecom giant.
AT&T wrote a letter to Vermont’s attorney general, explaining the situation, but did not specify the number of customers affected by the breach. However, a source close to the source told Reuters that AT&T has informed about 1,600 customers of this incident. The employee involved has since been discharged and US Federal authorities are investigating the breach with AT&T.
“Unfortunately, we recently learned that one of our employees did not follow our strict privacy rules and inappropriately obtained some customer information. This individual no longer works at AT&T and we are directly contacting the limited number of affected customers,” said an AT&T spokesperson.
The letter also outlines safety procedures as precautionary measures since the extent of the breach, although small, remains uncertain.
This breach is the latest in a string of cyber attacks and data breaches that have victimised banks (J.P.Morgan Chase), retail chains (Target, Home Depot) and other organisations in the US, within the last year and has been gaining considerable traction.
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(Image Credit: Chris Young)
