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In a high-stakes cybersecurity saga echoing through courtrooms and the dark web alike, AT&T Inc. on Friday secured preliminary approval from a Texas federal judge for a $177 million settlement to resolve sprawling claims over two devastating data breaches that exposed the sensitive personal information of more than 70 million current and former customers.

U.S. District Judge Ada E. Brown issued a 19-page order blessing the proposed deal, which aims to bring closure to one of the telecom industry’s most explosive digital security failures in recent memory. The court scheduled a final approval hearing for December, staying all proceedings in the meantime.

Settlement Breakdown: Two Classes, Two Breaches

The settlement carves affected consumers into two categories:

• AT&T 1 Settlement Class — $149 million allocated to those whose personal data (including Social Security numbers) surfaced on the dark web.

• AT&T 2 Settlement Class — $28 million designated for those whose call and text logs were accessed by hackers between May 2022 and early 2023.

Judge Brown called the terms “fair, reasonable and adequate,” declaring the deal to be in the public interest and in alignment with class action best practices.

Justice, Delivered at Broadband Speed

"This is justice delivered in a prompt fashion," said W. Mark Lanier of The Lanier Law Firm PC, lead counsel for the AT&T 1 class. “The court and parties worked hard to forge a solution that will resolve most claims.”

AT&T, while denying responsibility, defended the settlement as a strategic decision to avoid years of expensive, uncertain litigation.

“We remain committed to protecting our customers’ data and ensuring their continued trust in us,” AT&T said .

How the Breaches Unfolded

In March 2024, AT&T revealed that more than 70 million customers' personal details were leaked online. Just four months later, in July, the telecom giant disclosed that hackers accessed call and text logs for nearly all wireless customers—though not the contents of the communications.

The lawsuits claimed that AT&T failed to implement industry-standard safeguards and ignored federal regulatory guidance, leaving its infrastructure vulnerable to what plaintiffs described as a preventable cyberattack.

Complicating the picture, the litigation also drew in Snowflake Inc., a cloud platform alleged to have housed the breached data, sparking multidistrict litigation in both Texas and Montana.

What Customers Can Claim

Under the proposed settlement:

• AT&T 1 class members may claim up to $5,000 for documented losses dating back to 2019.

• AT&T 2 class members may claim up to $2,500 for losses from April 14, 2024, onward.

AT&T has also agreed to implement enhanced security measures to better protect customer data moving forward.

Who’s Representing Whom

• AT&T 1 Class Counsel:
  W. Mark Lanier (The Lanier Law Firm PC), Shauna Itri (Seeger Weiss LLP), James E. Cecchi (Carella Byrne Cecchi Olstein Brody & Agnello PC), Jean Sutton Martin (Morgan & Morgan PA), Sean S. Modjarrad (Modjarrad Abusaad & Said).

• AT&T 2 Class Counsel:
  Jeff Ostrow (Kopelowitz Ostrow PA), John Heenan (Heenan & Cook), Raphael Graybill (Graybill Law Firm PC), J. Devlan Geddes (Goetz Geddes & Gardner PC), Jason S. Rathod (Migliaccio & Rathod LLP).

• AT&T Defense Counsel:
  Gilbert S. Keteltas, C. Shawn Cleveland, Tamara D. Baggett (BakerHostetler); Gregg J. Costa (Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP).

What’s Next?

A final decision on the settlement is expected in December, but for millions affected by one of the largest telecom data breaches in U.S. history, this preliminary nod marks a critical first step toward resolution—and a cautionary tale in an era where data is currency, and security is never optional.