In late March 2024, telecommunications giant AT&T announced a major data breach that compromised the personal information of approximately 73 million current and former customers.
The stolen information was found being sold on dark web forums and included social security numbers for around 7.6 million AT&T account holders from 2019 or earlier.
AT&T stated they were investigating the security breach with cybersecurity experts but did not specify whether the stolen data originated from within AT&T itself or from one of its vendors.
In the following weeks, impacted customers began receiving notification emails and letters from AT&T about the breach and encouraging them to enroll in complimentary identity theft and credit monitoring services.
Class Action Lawsuits Pile Up in Wake of AT&T 2024 Data Breach
Numerous class action lawsuits have been filed against AT&T in United States district courts since the announcement of the 2024 data breach that put over 70 million customer records at risk.
The AT&T class action lawsuits generally allege that AT&T failed to implement proper cybersecurity safeguards to protect customer personal and financial information.
One of the earliest lawsuits was filed in Texas federal court on the same day AT&T publicly disclosed the breach.
It claimed the data theft occurred as a “direct result” of AT&T’s negligence in failing to establish adequate security protocols and defenses.
At least eight additional class action lawsuits surfaced in Texas during April 2024 as well.
Other notable lawsuits include one filed by Cohen Milstein accusing AT&T of waiting almost three years until March 2024 to investigate the breach, despite purportedly learning about a database of their customers being sold on dark web forums as early as August 2021.
A separate suit brought by Beasley Allen criticized the company’s lack of transparency around important details of the AT&T security breach timeline and reasons for the lengthy delay in customer notifications.
Law Firms Seeking Participants in AT&T Data Breach 2024 Lawsuits
Several law firms representing plaintiffs in the AT&T data breach class action lawsuits have publicized efforts to identify more potential clients affected by the security incident to join in the ongoing litigation.
Cohen Milstein made a web form to register interest in participating in the class action lawsuit against AT&T.
Beasley Allen published a press release advertising their class action and strongly urging impacted AT&T customers to contact their attorneys.
Additional class action law firms are suspected to still be investigating the AT&T breach and may file copycat suits or consolidate existing cases in the coming months as the legal proceedings against AT&T over its allegedly lax data security ramp up.
AT&T Declines Comment on Allegations as Lawsuits Mount Over 2024 Breach Impacting Tens of Millions
While keeping relatively quiet publicly on the specific allegations contained within the mounting AT&T data breach class action lawsuits, the telecom giant did provide basic information to customers on verifying legitimate breach notification correspondence and the complimentary protection services being offered.
However, AT&T has not substantively addressed many lingering questions around the full timeline of events, ultimate root causes of how the data was stolen, or reasons for the significant delay in informing those affected.
As more details emerge through the legal process, the scope and impact of this gigantic 2024 data breach continues growing with serious ramifications for AT&T and its former and current customers.
