The problem with a lot of our data being stored online and in the cloud is that it makes it accessible to hackers. Obviously, companies take precautions to prevent breaches from happening, but the sad reality is that it still happens. AT&T experienced its share of data breaches in 2024, and now the carrier is ready with a settlement amount.

AT&T agrees to a $177 million settlement

Following the data breaches, AT&T was hit with a class-action lawsuit but eventually agreed to a settlement to the tune of $177 million. The settlement has been approved by US District Judge Ada Brown, who called the settlement “fair and reasonable.”

However, despite AT&T agreeing to pay out to customers affected by the breach, the carrier insists that it is not at fault. According to the carrier, “We have agreed to this settlement to avoid the expense and uncertainty of protracted litigation.” If you’re an affected AT&T customer, you can expect payments to arrive in early 2026.

Various data breaches

It’s not hard to see why customers are angry with the carrier over these data breaches. AT&T experienced not one but two data breaches in 2024. One of those breaches involved call logs copied from a company workspace on a Snowflake cloud platform. This log contained six months worth of customer call and text data dating back to 2022. Safe to say that this pretty much affects all of AT&T’s customers.

AT&T also announced in 2024 that it was investigating data involving 7.6 million current accounts and 65.4 million former accounts whose data was released on the dark web. The carrier suggests that this data dates back to 2019 or earlier.

This isn’t the first data breach we’ve seen, nor will it be the last. Customers affected by these breaches can expect various amounts in the settlement payments. Those who suffered losses that are considered “fairly traceable” to the breaches could get anywhere between $2,500 and $5,000. Once those customers are paid off, then the remaining amount will be distributed to AT&T’s remaining affected customers.

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