The FBI and Homeland Security are currently investigating the significant outage of AT&T cell service that occurred earlier today. While a large portion of the network has been restored, national security spokesperson John Kirby has stated that efforts are underway to determine the cause of the outage.
Multiple federal agencies, including the FCC, Cisa, and the FBI, are involved in the investigation. Possible causes being considered include environmental factors such as weather, technical issues possibly related to an overnight upgrade, and the potential of a cyber attack.
Concerns about cyber attacks on critical infrastructure have been raised by federal officials, with recent warnings highlighting vulnerabilities in systems like cellular networks. A joint bulletin issued by the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and the NSA mentioned a Chinese cyber espionage program known as Volt Typhoon, which has targeted various critical infrastructure organizations.
While a cyber attack is considered less likely, given the lack of a definitive explanation for the outage, it remains a possibility. The scale of the failure and the absence of a clear technical cause have left room for speculation, with cyber attacks being a common concern in such situations.
Despite the ongoing investigation, many users have reported that their service has been restored. The situation continues to be monitored as authorities work to determine the root cause of the outage.
