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AT&T to pay $13 million to settle FCC probe over cloud data breach
AT&T has agreed to pay $13 million to settle a federal investigation into whether the mobile phone service provider failed to protect customer information in connection with a data breach last year, the Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday.
The FCC’s probe focused on how AT&T’s privacy, cybersecurity and vendor management practices may have played a role in the January 2023 breach, in which hackers penetrated the company’s cloud system. The breach exposed data belonging to nearly 9 million wireless customers.
As part of the settlement, AT&T entered a consent decree that requires the telecommunications giant to enhance its data governance practices, increase its supply chain integrity, and ensure appropriate processes and procedures in handling sensitive data.
Before the cyberattack, AT&T relied on a third-party vendor to host customer data. The user information exposed in the hack, including the number of lines on a customer’s account and billing information from 2015 through 2017, should have been deleted well before the breach, according to the FCC.
“The Communications Act makes clear that carriers have a duty to protect the privacy and security of consumer data, and that responsibility takes on new meaning for digital age data breaches,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement. “Carriers must take additional precautions given their access to sensitive information, and we will remain vigilant in ensuring that’s the case no matter which provider a customer chooses.
FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Loyaan A. Egal also said telecom firms “have an obligation to reduce the attack surface and entry points that threat actors seek to exploit in order to access sensitive customer data.”
AT&T has been subject to subsequent breaches, including an April cyberattack it disclosed in July in which hackers “nearly all” of its cellular customers’ text and call records for a six-month period between May 1, 2022 to Oct. 31, 2022.
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A food company known for popular grocery store condiments has recalled a package of tortilla strips that may be contaminated with wheat, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday. The product is meant to be gluten-free.
Sugar Foods, a manufacturing and distribution corporation focused mainly on various toppings, artificial sweeteners and snacks, issued the recall for the “Santa Fe Style” version of tortilla strips sold by the brand Fresh Gourmet.
“People who have a wheat allergy or severe sensitivity to wheat run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume the product,” said Sugar Foods in an announcement posted by the FDA.
Packages of these tortilla strips with an expiration date as late as June 20, 2025, could contain undeclared wheat, meaning the allergen is not listed as an ingredient on the label. The Fresh Gourmet product is marketed as gluten-free.
Sugar Foods said a customer informed the company on Nov. 19 that packages of the tortilla strips actually contained crispy onions, another Fresh Gourmet product normally sold in a similar container. The brand’s crispy onion product does contain wheat, and that allergen is noted on the label.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
No illnesses tied to the packaging mistake have been reported, according to the announcement from Sugar Foods. However, the company is still recalling the tortilla strips as a precaution. The contamination issue may have affected products distributed between Sept. 30 and Nov. 11 in 22 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington.
Sugar Foods has advised anyone with questions about the recall to contact the company’s consumer care department by email or phone.
CBS News reached out to Sugar Foods for more information but did not receive an immediate reply.
This is the latest in a series of food product recalls affected because of contamination issues, although the others involved harmful bacteria. Some recent, high-profile incidents include an E. coli outbreak from organic carrots that killed at least one person in California, and a listeria outbreak that left an infant dead in California and nine people hospitalized across four different states, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The E. coli outbreak is linked to multiple different food brands while the listeria outbreak stemmed from a line of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products sold by Yu-Shang Foods.