AT&T and T-Mobile Data Breach: The Intriguing Case of Binns
Despite payment and deletion, some AT&T customers and those they communicate with may still be at risk because others may have samples of unremoved material. The hacker who spoke to Wired, who received the payment from AT&T rather than Binns, said that in a strange twist in the case, Binns was arrested in Turkey in May for an unrelated breach dating to 2021. That incident involved massive data theft from T-Mobile. AT&T said in an SEC filing that it believed “at least one person” related to the breach has been arrested, but did not disclose that person’s identity. 404 Media first reported Friday that Binns was that man.
Binns’ Legal Troubles and Allegations
Binns was indicted in 2022 on 12 counts related to the 2021 T-Mobile hack “and the theft and sale of sensitive documents and information,” involving the data of more than 40 million people. However, Binns moved to Turkey from the United States with his Turkish mother in 2018. Last September, the United States learned that he could be arrested in Turkey and extradited to the United States because he did not have Turkish citizenship. Prosecutors in Seattle asked a U.S. court in December to unseal part of the indictment so they could hand over the indictment and arrest warrant to Turkish authorities, who are making a final decision on whether Binns can be legally extradited.
Binns’ Unusual Claims and Behavior
Binns has repeatedly contacted U.S. authorities and accused the CIA and other agencies of conspiring to harm and entrap him. In 2020, Binns filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the FBI, CIA, and U.S. Special Operations Command to obtain records he claimed they held about him. Binns claimed that CIA contractors had spied on him, experimented on him, and harassed him. In the T-Mobile case, Binns wrote to the U.S. District Court in Seattle, claiming his behavior was influenced by a chip implanted in his brain as an infant.
The Connection Between T-Mobile and AT&T Breaches
The timeline suggests that if Binns was responsible for the AT&T breach, he allegedly did so after realizing he was being sued in connection with the T-Mobile hack and potentially facing arrest. This intriguing case of cybercrime and legal battles highlights the complex nature of data breaches and the individuals involved.
