AT&T Data Breach: US Department of Justice Filed Indictment Against Hackers
The U.S. Department of Justice has officially filed an indictment against the hackers, who were arrested months ago for a data breach at AT&T, Ticketmaster and other companies.
In this latest cybersecurity news, The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed an indictment against two hackers, accusing them of data breach at AT&T, and other 165 organizations. In this hacking spree, more than 100 organizations were hacked which resulted in the theft of millions of users’ personal data.
The affected companies include AT&T, Ticketmaster, Lending Tree, Advance Auto Parts, and Neiman Marcus. AT&T disclosed in July that threat actors had stolen personal information, phone and text messages records of nearly all its customers.
These hackers were arrested several months ago, but the U.S. Department of Justice have begun the official formalities after filing indictment.
The hackers are identified as Alexander Connor Moucka, online known as “judische”, “catist”, “waif” and “cllyels”, and John Binns, online name “irdev” and “j_irdev1337”. Moucka was arrested in Canada in October, a day before Halloween whereas Binns was arrested in May by the Turkish authorities.
The Indictment
Indictment is a formal accusation against a person for a serious crime. According to the Indictment, Alexander Connor Moucka and John Binns has accessed “Billions of sensitive customer data” and had successfully extorted 36 bitcoins (approximately $2.5 million at time of payment) from 3 in the victims as ransom from November 2023 to 10th October 2024.
In the Indictment, AT&T is not mentioned, the document states “Victim-2” as a “major telecommunications company located in the United States”. But the parameters of Breach and the date of breach clearly states “Victim-2” as AT&T.
What Kind of Data Was Stolen?
As per Cybernews, the data includes call and text history records, banking and other financial information, payroll records, Drug Enforcement Agency registration numbers, driver’s license numbers, passport numbers, Social Security numbers, and other personally identifiable information. It’s estimated that the Snowflake attacks exposed 165 companies, with attackers roaming their customer environments for days. Around 30 million Santander Customers were exposed, while Advance Auto Parts said the attack cost it millions of dollars.
Ransom to Delete Data
US telecom giant AT&T has paid a member of the hacking team more than $300,000 to delete the data and provide a video proof of deletion, reported by Wired.
