Frontier Communications hit by cyberattack, IT systems impacted

Dive Brief:

• Frontier Communications is recovering from a cyberattack that caused the telecom provider to shut down some of its systems, the company said Thursday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
• The company said it detected an intrusion on its IT infrastructure on Sunday and quickly took measures to contain the incident. “As part of this process, the containment measures, which included shutting down certain of the company’s systems, resulted in an operational disruption that could be considered material,” Frontier said in the regulatory filing.
• Frontier did not specify which systems were compromised or impacted by its response, but a notice on its website warns that technical issues with its internal support systems are ongoing. “Our customers’ internet service is up and running and not affected by this issue,” the company said on its site.

Dive Insight:

Frontier said recovery efforts are ongoing and it has engaged cybersecurity experts and law enforcement to assist with an investigation. A spokesperson for the company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“The company believes it has contained the incident and has restored its core information technology environment and is in the process of restoring normal business operations,” Frontier said in the filing.

Frontier did not mention an extortion demand but said the attack was likely initiated by a cybercrime group, which gained access to personally identifiable information and other unspecified information.

Telecom providers hold troves of data on their customers, which makes them a common target for attackers who often seek to leverage that information for ransom demands or follow-on attacks.

In late 2023, Comcast disclosed a data breach that compromised data on 35.9 million customers. More recently, AT&T disclosed a breach that exposed data on up to 73 million current and former customers.

T-Mobile has publicly acknowledged at least eight data breaches since 2018, including a massive data breach in August 2021 that exposed personal data on at least 76.6 million people.

Frontier, a Connecticut-based company that provides internet, TV and phone services, ended 2023 with 2.9 million broadband subscribers spread across 25 states.

“The company does not believe the incident is reasonably likely to materially impact the company’s financial condition or results of operations,” Frontier said in the SEC filing.