- New York Attorney General Opens Investigation into February 22 Blackout
- Letitia James urged all affected New Yorkers to file a complaint
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New York is opening an investigation into the cause of AT&T’s massive cellphone outage that left thousands of Americans without service last week.
Attorney General Letitia James announced the investigation Thursday, noting that nationwide outages are dangerous and especially the one on Feb. 22, which prevented calls, text messages or internet access for up to 12 hours.
AT&T attributed the problems to a “software glitch” and told affected customers they would receive a $5 credit on their next bill.
James has also urged all affected New Yorkers to file a complaint with his office.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had opened an investigation the day cell service went down.
New York opens investigation into the cause of AT&T’s massive cellphone outage that left thousands of Americans without service last week
“Americans depend on cellular service providers for consistent, reliable service to help them in almost every aspect of their daily lives,” James said.
‘Nationwide power outages are not just an inconvenience, they can be dangerous and it is essential that we protect consumers when a power outage occurs.
“I encourage any New Yorker who has been affected by this disruption to file a complaint with my office.”
The outage was first reported in the early hours of Thursday morning when customers were unable to make emergency calls, and several 911 centers reported users were unable to connect.
Smartphones were left locked in ‘SOS’ mode.
There were reports that other networks were affected, but this is believed to have been the result of failed attempts to place calls to AT&T numbers.
Cyber ​​experts told DailyMail.com that the issue had characteristics of a cyber attack, potentially an attempt by hackers to blackmail the company or steal user data.
The outage was first reported in the early hours of Thursday morning when customers were unable to make emergency calls, and several 911 centers reported users were unable to connect. Smartphones stuck in ‘SOS’ mode
The widespread nature, according to experts, appeared similar to “a massive distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack against the Internet’s core infrastructure.”
Using DDOS, cybercriminals attempt to crash a website or online service by bombarding it with a torrent of extraneous requests at exactly the same time.
The surge of simple requests overloads servers, causing them to become overwhelmed and shut down.
DDOS was implemented in 2016 when it brought down major sites such as Netflix, Twitter, Amazon, and PayPal for hours.
James has also urged all affected New Yorkers to file a complaint with his office. Here, AT&T customers line up at a store last week hoping to get answers.
But the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) reported that “the cause of the outage is unknown and there is no indication of malicious activity.”
Still, National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby told reporters Thursday afternoon that DHS and the FBI were also investigating the outage and working with the tech industry and network providers to see what can be done. do” from a federal perspective to enhance their investigative efforts to Find Out What Happened Here.
On Friday, a pro-Russian hacktivist group claimed responsibility for AT&T outages that left many customers’ phones locked in “SOS mode.”
The 62IX Group, the Popular Liberation Front and the Anonymous Legion claimed responsibility for the incident.
These groups, which one cybersecurity expert criticized for being pro-Russian, also claimed responsibility for other telecommunications outages in the United States.
But the claim is false, said a cybersecurity and hacktivism expert who uses the alias ‘CyberKnow’ in a post on X.
It’s an example of what the writer called “post-event victim claims,” ​​designed to create confusion and bolster his reputation.