The FBI is warning agents about the theft of call records by hackers, Bloomberg News By Reuters reports
(Reuters) – FBI leaders warned that hackers who broke into AT&T (NYSE: ) systems last year likely stole months of agents’ call and text records, prompting urgent efforts to protect the identities of confidential informants, it reported is Bloomberg News on Thursday.
The breach, which is believed to have compromised all FBI devices using the AT&T office’s public safety service, included the agents’ cell phone numbers and the numbers they used to call and text, according to a document reviewed by Bloomberg and its interviews with current and a former law enforcement officer.
In July of last year, AT&T said the company suffered a major hacking incident as data from about 109 million customer accounts containing call and text records dating back to 2022 was illegally obtained in April.
FBI officials told agents nationwide that details of their use of the telecom operator’s network were likely among the billions of stolen records, the report said, adding that while the hacked records did not reveal the content of the communications, they could link investigators to their secret sources, it added. in the report.
AT&T and the FBI did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
The breach follows broader concerns about cyberespionage targeting US telecommunications networks. US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on January 10 that the US had taken steps in response to China-linked cyberespionage operations against US telecommunications companies.
U.S. telecommunications companies Verizon (NYSE: ) and AT&T announced late last year that their networks had been targeted by cyber hackers, but that they were now secure because they cooperated with the U.S. government and law enforcement.
