Bitcoin
Did AT&T pay $400,000 in Bitcoin to data hackers?
There are new revelations suggesting that telecom giant AT&T Inc. allegedly paid hackers who claimed to have compromised its telecom network and stolen sensitive information in 2022. According to claims by one of the hackers, the company paid $400,000 to the malicious group in what appears to be a ransom.
AT&T ransomware payout to hackers
According to Bloomberg reportThe hacker says he extorted $400,000 from AT&T to erase the trove of sensitive call log and text data stolen from nearly all of AT&T’s wireless customers over the course of six months.
Media efforts to get the multinational telecommunications holding company to comment on the hacker’s claim of a ransom payment proved abortive. Similarly, FBI and Justice Department officials refused to acknowledge whether the company had made any payments at the time.
However, a ransomware expert who wished to remain anonymous due to the confidential nature of the matter confirmed that AT&T paid a ransom to the hacker. Additionally, the hacker provided a Bitcoin wallet address, and an analysis of it revealed what experts consider a likely extortion transaction in mid-May.
Meanwhile, analysis of the publicly accessible ledger by renowned Chainalysis Inc. shows an interesting development. According to Chainalysis, there appears to be an extortion payment as an unknown entity deposited Bitcoin valued at $380,000 at the time to the wallet address provided by the hacker.
A smaller amount later came from the wallet to that of a notorious hacker that Chainalysis declined to name. However, from its analysis, the company says it was unable to verify or ascertain whether the payment was initiated by AT&T.
It is also unclear whether the telecom company used an intermediary.
Historical ransomware payments
Notably, the hacker had provided information and a seven-minute video that they claimed was proof that they were deleting the stolen data. According to them, this was in fulfillment of their end of the deal with AT&T.
However, other analysts say that given the detail and sensitivity of the alleged stolen information that posed national security risks, the $400,000 was significantly low. They maintain that other ransomware attacks have extorted larger sums from corporate organizations.
A clear example was when Colonial Pipeline Co. suffered a data breach. The company had to pay $4.4 million to a group of hackers in 2021 as the attack forced it to shut down its gas pipeline, affecting gas supplies to the East Coast of the United States.
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