Wednesday, 30 August 2006

AT&T Customer's Credit Card Info Hacked Exposes 19,000 Identities

AT&T has announced that hackers broke into a computer system and accessed personal data, including credit card information, from thousands of customers who had purchased DSL equipment from the company's web store.

"Fewer than 19,000 customers" were affected, the company said, adding that it has notified customers by email, phone and letter.

AT&T also said that it has alerted the major credit card companies whose customer accounts were involved.

"We deeply regret this incident and we intend to pay for credit monitoring services for customers whose accounts have been impacted, said AT&T chief privacy officer Priscilla Hill-Ardoin. "We will work closely with law enforcement to bring these data thieves to account."

AT&T said that is committed to protecting customers' privacy and punishing the violators. "We're taking this action on behalf of our customers," Priscilla Hill-Ardoin, AT&T's chief privacy officer, wrote in a press release. "We intend to vigorously pursue these individuals who, through fraud, have attempted to obtain unauthorized access to customer information."