Experts warned today that it is “possible” that Tuesday’s AT&T outage could have been caused by a cyberattack on America’s cell phone infrastructure.
Customers in at least 24 states were affected by the outage, which included problems calling people on other networks and problems accessing the Internet.
But when police reported that customers were having trouble calling 911, suspicions arose that something nefarious was afoot.
Cybersecurity experts told DailyMail.com that when “for-profit threat actors target opportunistic vulnerabilities; everything is possible.’
However, an AT&T spokesperson told DailyMail.com that the outage was caused by “an issue between two carriers.”
It comes after a major attack leaked the personal data of more than 70 million AT&T customers.
AT&T customers have reported problems calling 911 in multiple US states. At least 24 states are experiencing issues that started around 12:26 PM ET
Cybercriminals view 911 call centers as attractive targets due to the large amount of sensitive data the systems contain.
Access to that information is a major public safety concern, meaning the hackers believe the Emergency Service Sector (EES) would be more inclined to pay a ransom to ensure the information remains secure and to get the systems back up and running to get.
With more than 241 million customers, AT&T is a highly sought-after target because of its size and coverage, said Alex Holden, the founder and chief information security officer of Hold Security, a threat intelligence services company that monitors the dark web.
“We should learn from the example of the 2023 Russian cyber attack against Kievstar, Ukraine’s largest mobile service provider,” he added.
The hack took out Ukraine’s largest mobile phone operator, with 24 million users, intended to gather intelligence.
“This attack is a big message, a big warning, not only for Ukraine, but for the entire Western world to understand that no one is actually untouchable,” Illia Vitiuk, head of the cybersecurity department of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), told IPS. ). Reuters in December.
But Holden told DailyMail.com that it is unlikely that yesterday’s outage was the result of a cyber attack because “nation state threat actors do not attempt to cause serious service disruptions as this could lead to an escalation of tensions between countries or even a war.’
Despite this reassurance, the AT&T outages highlight how vulnerable the US is to attack, Alex Hamerstone, director of consulting solutions at cybersecurity firm TrustedSec, told DailyMail.com.
“An attack designed to overwhelm, not just damage, networks could be very impactful,” he said, as cutting off phone calls and the internet would cause people to lose access to much-needed medical care and transportation.
Many users threatened to leave America’s largest telephone provider after yesterday’s outage and expressed outrage at having to pay their full bill after the second outage in less than four months.
AT&T’s outages were widespread, with problems reported in Tampa, Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles and Phoenix
Hackers are abusing mobile phone software and infrastructure to steal valuable data, and by targeting big companies they can make lucrative ransomware profits.
AT&T has suffered two extended outages this year, impacting tens of thousands of users in the United States.
The company was also hit by a major data breach in 2021 when hackers claimed they stole customer data from the service provider and threatened to sell the information, a claim AT&T denied.
According to Hamerstone, an extreme amount of effort goes into maintaining the mobile phone infrastructure worldwide.
“In fact, I think a lot of people would be surprised if things worked as often as they do,” he told DailyMail.com.
Maintaining cell phone infrastructure is a two-tiered process, Hamerstone said, because employees must keep the existing system functioning while continually improving, updating and expanding the systems, networks and equipment.
This also includes improving infrastructure resilience against security threats.
He clarified that a cyber attack could cause mobile phone disruption at any time, although “this is generally not the most likely thing to happen.”
The major outage in February that disrupted not only AT&T but also Verizon and Cricket Wireless prompted the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to open an investigation into whether it was caused by a cyberattack.
In April, the FCC opened an additional cybersecurity investigation after people in four states, including South Dakota, Nevada, Texas and Nebraska, were unable to call 911.
“There are many things that can lead to service disruption, ranging from issues with the physical infrastructure, challenges with upgrading the underlying code and human error,” says Hamerstone. our daily lives depend on wireless communication.’