New York, February 22, 2024, The Europe Today: In a formal statement released late on Thursday, AT&T addressed the recent disruption that impacted calls and text messages for thousands of its U.S. users. The carrier assured the public that the outage, which led to federal investigations, was not the result of a cyberattack.
AT&T successfully restored wireless service for all affected customers, resolving the disruption that affected over 70,000 users at its peak. The wireless carrier, in its statement posted on its official website, attributed the outage to an incorrect process application and execution during the network expansion.
“Based on our initial review, we believe that today’s outage was caused by the application and execution of an incorrect process used as we were expanding our network,” the statement read.
The White House weighed in on the situation, with spokesman John Kirby confirming that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were actively investigating the AT&T outage. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a unit of DHS, is also involved in the investigation.
“We are being told AT&T has no reason to think this was a cyber or security incident,” stated Kirby. He further mentioned that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was in communication with the company regarding the incident. However, Kirby emphasized that conclusive answers regarding the cause of the outage were still pending.
Despite inquiries, AT&T declined to comment on the FCC’s ongoing investigation into the incident. The company provided no additional details on the specific reasons for the outage or the exact number of users affected.
As investigations continue, AT&T aims to reassure its customers and the public that cybersecurity issues were not at the root of the disruption. The carrier remains committed to resolving any technical challenges and maintaining the reliability of its network services.
