Expert weighs in on cyber security following massive AT&T network outage

February 26, 2024 – Published on CBS 58 Milwaukee

AT&T is paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars to make up for a network glitch last week that left thousands of AT&T customers without their cellphones for hours. We spoke with a cyber security expert about lessons learned.

And it’s important to note up front, the company says last Thursday’s outage wasn’t a cyber attack, but security experts say we certainly can learn from it. The steps you take today can help you in the future if a cyber attack does take down a major carrier.

Cyber security expert Brian Ledbetter says in this case, users still had access to Wi-Fi calling and messenger apps, but a cyber attack could have crippling consequences on those, too. One thing you can do is get a backup carrier.

“You can have multiple carriers on one mobile device, and folks who are interested in that, they just need to reach out to the other carriers and they will walk them through the steps to make that happen. If you’re with AT&T and you’re like oh, what if they go down again? Add another SIM to your device, which a SIM literally just allows the device to talk to a carrier. And so have a backup SIM and you’ll be fine,” said Ledbetter, cyber security expert with Guidepoint Security.

Ledbetter says companies like AT&T have an IT security team constantly watching for threats, but you should be prepared anyway. Talk to loved ones. Have a plan in place should communication lines go down.

Read More and Watch HERE.