AT&T said the outage of U.S. cellphone network was not because of cyberattack

The outage prompted concerns on Capitol Hill, with Cathy McMorris Rodgers

AT&T has confirmed that the extensive outage affecting its U.S. cellphone network on Thursday was likely not the result of a malicious attack. The Dallas-based company stated that initial assessments indicate the outage stemmed from an incorrect process implemented during network expansion, rather than a cyberattack. According to Downdetector, the outage began around 3:30 a.m. ET, reaching a peak of approximately 73,000 reported incidents. By noon ET, AT&T had over 58,000 outages, primarily in cities such as Houston, Atlanta, and Chicago. As the day progressed, reports of network issues decreased significantly, with fewer than 1,000 incidents reported by 8 p.m. ET. Cricket Wireless, a subsidiary of AT&T, also experienced outages, peaking at more than 9,000 incidents before tapering off later in the afternoon.

Although users of other carriers, including Verizon and T-Mobile, reported connectivity issues, these companies asserted that their networks were functioning normally, attributing the problems to attempts to connect to AT&T users. During the outage, some iPhone users received SOS messages on their devices' status bars, indicating difficulty connecting to their cellular provider's network. However, they could still make emergency calls through alternate carrier networks, according to Apple Support. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), along with the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, initiated inquiries into the outage, as confirmed by National Security Council spokesman John Kirby. The FBI stated it had contacted AT&T and would respond appropriately to any evidence of malicious activity.