AT&T Reaches $177M Deal Over 2019 and 2024 Data Breaches

Telecom giant AT&T has agreed to a $177 million settlement to resolve two major lawsuits stemming from widespread data breaches that impacted millions of its current and former customers in 2019 and 2024.

A US District Judge, Ada Brown, granted preliminary approval for the settlement terms on Friday, June 20 . While the company denies responsibility for these “criminal acts,” it opted for the settlement to avoid lengthy legal battles.

AT&T confirmed these two data security incidents last year. The first breach, which began in 2019, exposed personal information for about 7.6 million current and 65.4 million former account holders. This data, including names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and passcodes, was found on the dark web, a hidden part of the internet. Hackread.com previously covered AT&T’s eventual confirmation of this breach affecting roughly 73 million users after initial speculation.

The second incident, confirmed in July ...