AT&T Phone Service Outage Raises Cyber Attack Concerns
The recent AT&T phone service outage left tens of thousands of users across the United States without cell phone service, sparking concerns that the country’s largest cell phone service provider may have been the target of a cyber attack. The outage began on Thursday around 3:30 a.m. ET and reached nearly 73,000 reported incidents by noon, with the issue appearing to be fully resolved by 3 p.m.
AT&T attributed the interruption to a coding error, stating that it was caused by the incorrect application of a process while expanding their network, rather than a cyber attack. Despite the outage affecting users in various cities, including Houston, Chicago, and New York, reports of network outages decreased drastically by 9 p.m.
During the outage, some users saw emergency messages on their iPhones and were able to make emergency calls over other carrier networks. The FirstNet network, which provides coverage for first responders, remained operational during the outage. Additionally, users could still make calls, send texts, and browse the internet over Wi-Fi.
Authorities, including the Federal Communications Commission, the Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI, are investigating the outage. The FBI warned that they would respond accordingly if evidence of malicious activity was found. Members of Congress also expressed concerns and pledged to evaluate the disruption to prevent similar incidents in the future.
AT&T took immediate action to restore three-quarters of the network around noon on Thursday, with full service being restored to affected customers by 3 p.m. The company issued an apology to its customers and stated that steps were being taken to prevent future outages. Industry analysts suggest AT&T may face fines for disconnecting affected customers from the 911 emergency service.
As the situation unfolded, the outage highlighted the vulnerability of the nation’s largest cell phone service provider and the potential risks associated with cyber attacks on critical infrastructure.