FBI arrests four hackers hired to infiltrate AT T

Earlier this week, AT&T claimed to be investigating an intrusion attempt on its system. However, the company said it did not believe any accounts were compromised. Reports are now surfacing that AT&T has been working with the FBI and Philippine law enforcement to apprehend attackers, although a link between the two events has not been confirmed.

The Philippine's Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) stated, "The hacking activity resulted in almost $2 million in losses incurred by the company", referring to AT&T's involvement as a target of the attack.

However, AT&T spokeswoman, Jan Rasmussen, denied any breach of security by claiming, "AT&T and its network were neither targeted nor breached by the hackers. AT&T only assisted law enforcement in the investigation that led to the arrest of a group of hackers." 

This seems to directly contradict the earlier statement by the CIDG and another statement by AT&T saying the company, "ended up writing off some fraudulent charges that appeared on customer bills". As a result, it is impossible to determine to what extent AT&T's network was hacked, if at all.

Earlier this year, the FBI discovered a Saudi group had funded hackers to target AT&T. The FBI enlisted the help of CIDG's International cyber-crime division (ATCCD) as early as March 2011. The group was suspected of having ties to other terrorist organizations, although details were never officially disclosed.

The four men arrested were Filipino and funded by a group formerly headed by Muhammad Zamir, a South East Asian militant. Zamir has a colorful history with financial ties to al Qaeda and funding the terrorist bombing of Mumbai, India, on November 26, 2008. One of the men detained was identified as Paul Michael Kwan, a suspect previously convicted of illegal militant activity in 2007.

The CIDG said suspects hacked PBX lines from various telecommunications companies to steal money and divert it into the bank accounts of terrorists. The hackers were to be paid commission, based upon how much money they could funnel to accounts.

AT T targeted by hackers, no accounts breached

AT&T notified some of its customers yesterday that it had detected attempts to hack into their servers and obtain customer account information, although America's second biggest mobile carrier was quick to point out that no accounts were breached.

"We recently detected what could have been an organized attempt to obtain information on a number of customer accounts," AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel said in a statement to Cnet. "The people in question appear to have used autoscript technology to determine whether AT&T telephone numbers were linked to online AT&T accounts."

The company stated it has sent an email to those affected, but pointed out at the same time that less than one percent of the company's users were at risk. While one percent might sound a small figure that equates to potentially one million affected users going by its reported 100.7-million wireless subscribers at the end of the third quarter.

"Our investigation is ongoing to determine the source or intent of the attempt to gather this information," Siegel said. "In the meantime, out of an abundance of caution, we are advising the account holders involved."

Those that were contacted have been advised to be very cautious of any emails or text messages they may get because there "may be an increased risk of fraudulent attempts to access" account information. It is vital all subscribers remain vigilant in either case though, as it is uncommon for any service provider to request personal or financial information via those methods.

AT&T remained tight lipped about the finer details of the incident, but it's likely the hackers were aiming to gain access to customer information to use to steal credit card information from those affected in future phishing attacks. Had they gained access to customer account numbers, personal information and the phone numbers of subscribers, it could have been easier to trick users into believing they were AT&T.

This incident closely follows the intrusion at a Illinois-based water utility last week where hackers gained access to the pumps control system, operating a pump by turning it on and off until it burnt out.

AT T to throttle unlimited data users starting October 1

What began as a rumor yesterday has been officially confirmed: AT&T will begin throttling mobile broadband speeds later this year. In an announcement today, the carrier said it is taking steps to cope with the exploding demand for mobile data and the resulting network congestion. At least a part of that plan will include the reduction of data throughput for the remaining subscribers of the companies unlimited data plan -- at least those who exceed a certain monthly bandwidth threshold, anyway.

AT&T explained that the change will only affect 5% of unlimited subscribers who consume "extraordinary" levels of data. Such users account for much of the company's traffic, using 12 times more data than the average of all other smartphone customers. AT&T didn't say how much data the its heaviest users consume, but if it's any consolation, the company said you could receive thousands of emails, visit thousands of sites and stream hours of video each month without making the top 5%.

"Typically what puts someone in the top 5 percent is streaming very large amounts of video and music daily over the wireless network, not Wi-Fi. Streaming video apps, remote web camera apps, sending large data files (like video) and some online gaming are examples of applications that can use data quickly," the carrier explained. As you undoubtedly realize, Wi-Fi usage doesn't count against your mobile data consumption, and that includes the 26,000 public Wi-Fi hotspots AT&T offers

It's unclear how much you'll be allowed to use before having your speeds reduced, nor has AT&T mentioned precisely how much they'll throttle data hogs. The change will go in effect starting October 1 and we assume the company will offer more details by then. It should be noted that customers on AT&T's tiered plans won't be affected. Subscribers of the company's $15 200MB DataPlus, $25 2GB DataPro or $45 4GB DataPro plans, you should still be able to pay for unthrottled overages.

This is yet another nail in the coffin of all-you-can-eat data plans. Besides Sprint, most major US carriers have implemented metered bandwidth of some form. AT&T introduced its tiered plans last summer and Verizon followed suit this month with capped plans and $10/GB overages. T-Mobile still offers unlimited consumption, but it does throttle speeds.