Excerpt from Hindustan Times Article, Published on Jun 25, 2025.
AT&T is set to roll out a $177 million settlement after a series of devastating security breaches compromised sensitive user information. As per a preliminary approval by a U.S. district judge in Texas, this long-awaited settlement will begin disbursement on June 20, targeting both current and former subscribers affected by the security breach incidents. The most significant security breach occurred in 2019, exposing the names, Social Security numbers, and birth dates of millions of AT&T customers. Out of the total settlement, a staggering $149 million is dedicated to addressing this data leak alone. The breach affected approximately 51 million users and triggered multiple lawsuits from consumers whose personal data was stolen by cybercriminals.
Adding to the company’s troubles, another security breach occurred in April 2024 involving cloud provider Snowflake. This breach allowed hackers access to AT&T customers’ call and text records. Though AT&T claims that customer names were not revealed, the incident led to further legal actions, resulting in the allocation of $28 million from the settlement fund to address these specific claims. Starting August 4, eligible individuals will receive electronic or physical notifications regarding their share of the settlement. Those who provide documented proof of the severity of their data compromise can receive up to $5,000 in the first case and $2,500 in the second. Final payments are expected to be processed following a court hearing scheduled for December 3.
AT&T, while denying responsibility for the security breaches, stated that settling was a step to avoid prolonged litigation. The telecom giant reaffirmed its commitment to data protection and rebuilding customer trust. These repeated security breach incidents underline the growing threats to consumer data and the critical need for improved cybersecurity across industries.
To delve deeper into this topic, please read the full article Hindustan Times.
