--- title: "Hackers Apparently Stole the FBI’s Call Logs With Confidential Informants" description: "The FBI admitted that they believe hackers broke into AT&T's systems last year to steal months of call and text logs." date: "2025-01-18" modified: "2025-01-18" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/hackers-stole-fbi-call-logs-confidential-informants" categories: - "Cybersecurity" - "Future Society" - "Hacking" tags: - "FBI" - "hackers" - "telecommunications" - "the digest" --- # Hackers Apparently Stole the FBI’s Call Logs With Confidential Informants ![The FBI admitted that they believe hackers broke into AT&T's systems last year to steal months of call and text logs.]() *\Image: Getty Images\* ## Intel Atlantic The FBI admitted that hackers appear to have broken into AT&T's systems last year to steal months of call and text logs — data pilfering that could endanger the agency's own operatives. According to a [document reviewed by *Bloomberg*](), the FBI scrambled to contain the disaster. The infiltrators got access to data from all devices used by FBI agents under the bureau's AT&T service for public safety agencies, according to the outlet's reporting, though exactly how they did so remains unclear. It's nonetheless an egregious lapse in telecommunications cybersecurity, which could aid hackers in tracking down FBI agents' sensitive communications with informants, among other data. According to one of *Bloomberg*'s sources, the stolen information contained the call logs of at least one agent. The hack also highlights lapses in the cybersecurity of the FBI itself, turning the hack into a considerable risk to its operations and even national security — not to mention potentially undermining its ability to keep confidential informants safe. ## Over Confidant The agency is already dealing with a [separate data breach]() affecting nine different telecommunications companies. In November, US officials [blamed Chinese state-sponsored hackers](), part of a spy group called Salt Typhoon, for a "broad and significant cyber-espionage campaign." The latest hack adds even more pressure on telecommunications companies like AT&T, as well as the FBI. "After criminals stole customer data last year, we worked closely with law enforcement to mitigate impact to government operations," AT&T spokesperson Alex Byers told *Bloomberg*. "The FBI continually adapts our operational and security practices as physical and digital threats evolve," the FBI added in a statement. Nonetheless, the call and text logs leak is a major setback for the agency, retired FBI agent William Evanina told the publication. "Any disclosure of such communications is both significantly detrimental to investigations but also potentially dangerous to confidential informants if their identity is disclosed," he said. "Not good." "This is an op-sec failure more than a technology failure," former agent Miguel Clarke told *Bloomberg*. The exact extent of the latest hack remains unknown, but it certainly reveals some uncomfortable cybersecurity shortcomings. "I worry about the FBI sources who might have been affected by this AT&T exposure, but more broadly the public still doesn't have a full understanding of the fallout of the Salt Typhoon campaigns," former NSA hacker and Hunter Strategy vice president of research Jake Williams [told *Wired*](). "And it seems that the US government is still working on getting a grasp of that as well." **More on cybersecurity:** *[It Appears That Chinese Hackers Have Stolen Your Naughty Texts]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()