AT&T’s recent 12-hour service blackout that left thousands of customers across the U.S. without cellphone service, texting, or internet access was not the result of a cyberattack, the telecommunications giant asserted on Friday.
According to reports, nearly 75,000 AT&T and Cricket customers reported disruptions on Thursday, with major cities like Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Dallas being hit hardest. However, the actual number of affected customers is likely much higher.
In a statement, AT&T clarified that the outage stemmed from an “incorrect process” deployed during network expansion efforts, rather than malicious cyber activity. Although the company did not elaborate on the specific cause of the disruption, it confirmed that services had been restored following the incident.
During the outage, affected users were limited to emergency calls or calls via Wi-Fi, raising concerns about public safety. Reports emerged of some AT&T users experiencing difficulties making 911 calls, prompting scrutiny from law enforcement agencies and federal authorities.
While the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and FBI were alerted to the situation, the FBI assured that it would take action if any evidence of malicious intent surfaced.
Political figures also weighed in on the incident, with Reps. Cathay McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Bob Latta (R-OH) expressing a commitment to investigating the outage and preventing future disruptions.
Meanwhile, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) issued a stark warning about potential future cyberattacks, particularly from adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Rubio emphasized the need for heightened vigilance, citing the CCP’s known cyber capabilities and previous warnings from federal officials about the regime’s aggressive cyber activities targeting U.S. critical infrastructure.
As the nation grapples with the aftermath of the AT&T outage, concerns about cybersecurity and the evolving threat landscape continue to dominate discussions in both political and public spheres.
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The question remains though, with all the misinformation distributed by large companies and the government, with vague information given; how can #WeThePeople trust anything we hear or read?!