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Here’s how to find out if your data was stolen in AT&T’s massive hack
If you’re one of AT&T’s cellular customers, you can check your account to see if your data was compromised as part of the massive breach the telecom giant announced on Friday.
If you were an AT&T customer between May 1, 2022 to Oct. 31, 2022, it’s likely your data was involved, given that the company said “nearly all” its cellular customers’ records were gathered by hackers during that time. The breach also includes records from Jan. 2, 2023 for a “very small number of customers,” AT&T said.
But customers can check if their data was compromised by logging into their accounts, according to AT&T.
“When customers log in, they can see if their data was affected. They can also request a report that provides a more user-friendly version of technical information that was compromised,” an AT&T spokesperson told CBS MoneyWatch.
The company also said it will alert customers who were impacted via text, email or U.S. mail.
The company isn’t providing identity theft protection to customers at this time, the company spokesperson told CBS MoneyWatch. AT&T said customers can visit att.com/DataIncident for more information.
The compromised data involves records of calls and texts for AT&T customers, but doesn’t include the content of the calls or texts, or personal information such as Social Security numbers, birth dates or other personally identifiable information.
Why did AT&T wait to alert customers?
Under U.S. securities regulations, companies must disclose data breaches within 30 days of learning about the security problem. AT&T said that it learned about the hack in April, but delayed informing customers because it was working with agencies such as the Department of Justice and the FBI, which determined that disclosing the breach could cause security risks.
“The breach is considered a national security concern because these call logs reveal social and/or professional networks of people,” said Patrick Schaumont, professor in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, in an email.
He added, “If person A has a role relevant to national security, then person A’s social network is a liability. So, person A’s call log must be kept secret. That’s why the Department of Justice prevented AT&T from disclosing the breach until now.”
AT&T hasn’t revealed the identity of the hacker or hackers responsible, but noted that one person has been apprehended in connection with the breach.
Barry Enderwick is eating his way through history, one sandwich at a time. Every day from his home in San Jose, California, Enderwick posts a cooking video from a recipe that time forgot. From the 1905 British book “Salads, Sandwiches and Savouries,” Enderwick prepared the New York Sandwich.
The recipe called for 24 oysters, minced and mixed with mayonnaise, seasoned with lemon juice and pepper, and spread over buttered day-old French bread.
Rescuing recipes from the dustbin of history doesn’t always lead to culinary success. Sampling his New York Sandwich, Enderwick decried it as “a textural wasteland. No, thank you.” Into the trash bin it went!
But Enderwick’s efforts have yielded his own cookbook, a collection of some of the strangest – and sometimes unexpectedly delicious – historical recipes you’ve never heard of.
Harvard Common Press
He even has a traveling stage show: “Sandwiches of History Live.”
From the condiments to the sliced bread, this former Netflix executive has become something of a sandwich celebrity. “You can put just about anything in-between two slices of bread,” he said. “And it’s portable! In general, a sandwich is pretty easy fare. And so, they just have universal appeal.”
Though the sandwich gets its name famously from the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, the earliest sandwich Enderwick has eaten dates from 200 B.C.E. China, a seared beef sandwich called Rou Jia Mo.
He declared it delicious. “Between the onions, and all those spices and the soy sauce … oh my God! Oh man, this is so good!”
While Elvis was famous for his peanut butter and banana concoction, Enderwick says there’s another celebrity who should be more famous for his sandwich: Gene Kelly, who he says had “the greatest man sandwich in the world, which was basically mashed potatoes on bread. And it was delicious.”
Whether it’s a peanut and sardine sandwich (from “Blondie’s Cook Book” from 1947), or the parmesian radish sandwich (from 1909’s “The Up-To-Date Sandwich Book”), Enderwick tries to get a taste of who we were – good or gross – one recipe at a time.
RECIPE: A sophisticated club sandwich
Blogger Barry Enderwick, of Sandwiches of History, offers “Sunday Morning” viewers a 1958 recipe for a club sandwich that, he says, shouldn’t work, but actually does, really well!
MORE: “Sunday Morning” 2024 “Food Issue” recipe index
Delicious menu suggestions from top chefs, cookbook authors, food writers, restaurateurs, and the editors of Food & Wine magazine.
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Story produced by Anthony Laudato. Editor: Chad Cardin.
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