Investing.com -- The FBI has issued a warning about a potential threat to its agents and confidential informants following a significant breach of AT&T Inc (NYSE:T).'s system last year. The hackers are believed to have stolen months of agents' call and text logs, according to a document reviewed by Bloomberg News.
The bureau has informed agents across the country that their records on AT&T's network are presumed to be among the billions of stolen records. The information at risk includes data from all FBI devices under the AT&T service for public safety agencies. The stolen data does not reveal the content of the communications but could link investigators to their secret sources. The data is thought to include agents' mobile phone numbers and the numbers they have called and texted.
The breach, which was publicly disclosed by AT&T in July last year, included six months of mobile phone customer data from 2022. The hackers threatened to sell the data unless AT&T paid an extortion fee. Records for calls and texts that weren't on the AT&T network, such as through encrypted messaging apps, weren't part of the stolen data.
A person with knowledge of the breach, who reviewed a sample of the stolen information, confirmed that it contained records of sensitive FBI communications, including the call logs of at least one agent.
The FBI's concern about the breach compromising its secret sources is a new development that emphasizes the potential disruption of criminal investigations and national security due to data stolen from phone companies. The incident also raises questions about the bureau's own security practices and how it protects its sources.
In addition to this incident, US authorities are investigating a separate breach of nine telecommunications companies, including AT&T. Chinese state-backed hackers are believed to be responsible for these intrusions, which compromised the communications of several individuals in government and politics.
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