AT&T's $177 million data breach settlement wins US court approval
A U.S. judge granted preliminary approval on Friday to a $177 million settlement that resolves lawsuits against AT&T over breaches in 2024 that exposed personal information belonging to tens of millions of the telecom giant's customers. U.S. District Judge Ada Brown in Dallas said in a ruling that the class-action settlement was fair and reasonable. The deal resolves claims over data breaches that AT&T announced in May and July last year. Depending on which breach is involved, AT&T has agreed to pay up to $2,500 or $5,000 to customers who suffered losses that are "fairly traceable" to the incidents. After payments are made for direct losses, the remaining funds will be distributed to customers whose personal information was accessed.
AT&T did not immediately comment.
One of the incidents resulted in the illegal downloading of about 109 million customer accounts at the U.S. wireless company. AT&T disclosed that its call logs were copied from its workspace on a Snowflake cloud platform covering about six months of customer call and text data from 2022 from nearly all its customers.
In March 2024, AT&T said it was investigating a data set released on the "dark web" and said its preliminary analysis showed it affected approximately 7.6 million current account holders and 65.4 million former account holders. The company said the data set appeared to be from 2019 or earlier.
The Federal Communications Commission is also investigating. In September, AT&T agreed to pay $13 million to resolve an FCC investigation over a data breach of a cloud vendor in January 2023 that impacted 8.9 million AT&T wireless customers.
The FCC said the data exposed in 2023 covered customers from 2015 through 2017 that should have been deleted in 2017 or 2018.
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Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
Europe's lithium quest hampered by China and lack of cash
Europe's ambition to be a world player in decarbonised transportation arguably depends on sourcing lithium abroad, especially in South America. Even the bloc's broader energy security and climate goals could depend on securing a steady supply of the key mineral, used in batteries and other clean energy supply chains. But Europe has run into a trio of obstacles: lack of money, double-edged regulations and competition from China, analysts told AFP. China has a major head start. It currently produces more than three-quarters of batteries sold worldwide, refines 70 percent of raw lithium and is the world's third-largest extractor behind Australia and Chile, according to 2024 data from the United States Geological Survey. To gain a foothold, Europe has developed a regulatory framework that emphasises environmental preservation, quality job creation and cooperation with local communities. It has also signed bilateral agreements with about 15 countries, including Chile and Argentina, the world's fifth-largest lithium producer. But too often it fails to deliver when it comes to investment, say experts. "I see a lot of memoranda of understanding, but there is a lack of action," Julia Poliscanova, director of electric vehicles at the Transport and Environment (T&E) think tank, told AFP. "More than once, on the day that we signed another MoU, the Chinese were buying an entire mine in the same country." The investment gap is huge: China spent $6 billion on lithium projects abroad from 2020 to 2023, while Europe barely coughed up a billion dollars over the same period, according to data compiled by T&E. Lagging investment At the same time, the bottleneck in supply has tightened: last year saw a 30 percent increase in global demand for lithium, according to a recent report from the International Energy Agency (IEA). "To secure the supply of raw materials, China is actively investing in mines abroad through state-owned companies with political support from the government," the IEA noted. China's Belt and Road Initiative funnelled $21.4 billion into mining beyond its shores in 2024, according to the report. Europe, meanwhile, is "lagging behind in investment levels in these areas", said Sebastian Galarza, founder of the Centre for Sustainable Mobility in Santiago, Chile. "The lack of a clear path for developing Europe's battery and mining industries means that gap will be filled by other actors." In Africa, for example, Chinese demand has propelled Zimbabwe to become the fourth-largest lithium producer in the world. "The Chinese let their money do the talking," said Theo Acheampong, an analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations. By 2035, all new cars and vans sold in the European Union must produce zero carbon emissions, and EU leaders and industry would like as much as possible of that market share to be sourced locally. Last year, just over 20 percent of new vehicles sold in the bloc were electric. "Currently, only four percent of Chile's lithium goes to Europe," noted Stefan Debruyne, director of external affairs at Chilean private mining company SQM. "The EU has every opportunity to increase its share of the battery industry." Shifting supply chains But Europe's plans to build dozens of battery factories have been hampered by fluctuating consumer demand and competition from Japan (Panasonic), South Korea (LG Energy Solution, Samsung) and, above all, China (CATL, BYD). The key to locking down long-term lithium supply is closer ties in the so-called "lithium triangle" formed by Chile, Argentina and Bolivia, which account for nearly half of the world's reserves, analysts say. To encourage cooperation with these countries, European actors have proposed development pathways that would help establish electric battery production in Latin America. Draft EU regulations would allow Latin America to "reconcile local development with the export of these raw materials, and not fall into a purely extractive cycle", said Juan Vazquez, deputy head for Latin America and the Caribbean at the OECD Development Centre. But it is still unclear whether helping exporting countries develop complete supply chains makes economic sense, or will ultimately tilt in Europe's favour. "What interest do you have as a company in setting up in Chile to produce cathodes, batteries or more sophisticated materials if you don't have a local or regional market to supply?" said Galarza. "Why not just take the lithium, refine it and do everything in China and send the battery back to us?" Pointing to the automotive tradition in Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, Galarza suggested an answer. "We must push quickly towards the electrification of transport in the region so we can share in the benefits of the energy transition," he argued. But the road ahead looks long. Electric vehicles were only two percent of new car sales in Mexico and Chile last year, six percent in Brazil and seven percent in Colombia, according to the IEA. The small nation of Costa Rica stood out as the only nation in the region where EVs hit double digits, at 15 percent of new car sales.
Time of India
4 hours ago
- Time of India
AT&T's $177 million data breach settlement wins US court approval
A U.S. judge granted preliminary approval on Friday to a $177 million settlement that resolves lawsuits against AT&T over breaches in 2024 that exposed personal information belonging to tens of millions of the telecom giant's customers. U.S. District Judge Ada Brown in Dallas said in a ruling that the class-action settlement was fair and reasonable. The deal resolves claims over data breaches that AT&T announced in May and July last year. Depending on which breach is involved, AT&T has agreed to pay up to $2,500 or $5,000 to customers who suffered losses that are "fairly traceable" to the incidents. After payments are made for direct losses, the remaining funds will be distributed to customers whose personal information was accessed. AT&T did not immediately comment. One of the incidents resulted in the illegal downloading of about 109 million customer accounts at the U.S. wireless company. AT&T disclosed that its call logs were copied from its workspace on a Snowflake cloud platform covering about six months of customer call and text data from 2022 from nearly all its customers. In March 2024, AT&T said it was investigating a data set released on the "dark web" and said its preliminary analysis showed it affected approximately 7.6 million current account holders and 65.4 million former account holders. The company said the data set appeared to be from 2019 or earlier. The Federal Communications Commission is also investigating. In September, AT&T agreed to pay $13 million to resolve an FCC investigation over a data breach of a cloud vendor in January 2023 that impacted 8.9 million AT&T wireless customers. The FCC said the data exposed in 2023 covered customers from 2015 through 2017 that should have been deleted in 2017 or 2018.
Economic Times
5 hours ago
- Economic Times
Europe's lithium quest hampered by China and lack of cash
ET Online The key to locking down long-term lithium supply is closer ties in the so-called "lithium triangle" formed by Chile, Argentina and Bolivia, which account for nearly half of the world's reserves. Europe's ambition to be a world player in decarbonised transportation arguably depends on sourcing lithium abroad, especially in South the bloc's broader energy security and climate goals could depend on securing a steady supply of the key mineral, used in batteries and other clean energy supply Europe has run into a trio of obstacles: lack of money, double-edged regulations and competition from China, analysts told has a major head currently produces more than three-quarters of batteries sold worldwide, refines 70 percent of raw lithium and is the world's third-largest extractor behind Australia and Chile, according to 2024 data from the United States Geological Survey. To gain a foothold, Europe has developed a regulatory framework that emphasises environmental preservation, quality job creation and cooperation with local has also signed bilateral agreements with about 15 countries, including Chile and Argentina, the world's fifth-largest lithium too often it fails to deliver when it comes to investment, say experts."I see a lot of memoranda of understanding, but there is a lack of action," Julia Poliscanova, director of electric vehicles at the Transport and Environment (T&E) think tank, told AFP."More than once, on the day that we signed another MoU, the Chinese were buying an entire mine in the same country."The investment gap is huge: China spent $6 billion on lithium projects abroad from 2020 to 2023, while Europe barely coughed up a billion dollars over the same period, according to data compiled by T&E. Lagging investment At the same time, the bottleneck in supply has tightened: last year saw a 30 percent increase in global demand for lithium, according to a recent report from the International Energy Agency (IEA)."To secure the supply of raw materials, China is actively investing in mines abroad through state-owned companies with political support from the government," the IEA Belt and Road Initiative funnelled $21.4 billion into mining beyond its shores in 2024, according to the meanwhile, is "lagging behind in investment levels in these areas", said Sebastian Galarza, founder of the Centre for Sustainable Mobility in Santiago, Chile."The lack of a clear path for developing Europe's battery and mining industries means that gap will be filled by other actors."In Africa, for example, Chinese demand has propelled Zimbabwe to become the fourth-largest lithium producer in the world."The Chinese let their money do the talking," said Theo Acheampong, an analyst at the European Council on Foreign 2035, all new cars and vans sold in the European Union must produce zero carbon emissions, and EU leaders and industry would like as much as possible of that market share to be sourced year, just over 20 percent of new vehicles sold in the bloc were electric."Currently, only four percent of Chile's lithium goes to Europe," noted Stefan Debruyne, director of external affairs at Chilean private mining company SQM."The EU has every opportunity to increase its share of the battery industry." Shifting supply chains But Europe's plans to build dozens of battery factories have been hampered by fluctuating consumer demand and competition from Japan (Panasonic), South Korea (LG Energy Solution, Samsung) and, above all, China (CATL, BYD).The key to locking down long-term lithium supply is closer ties in the so-called "lithium triangle" formed by Chile, Argentina and Bolivia, which account for nearly half of the world's reserves, analysts encourage cooperation with these countries, European actors have proposed development pathways that would help establish electric battery production in Latin EU regulations would allow Latin America to "reconcile local development with the export of these raw materials, and not fall into a purely extractive cycle", said Juan Vazquez, deputy head for Latin America and the Caribbean at the OECD Development it is still unclear whether helping exporting countries develop complete supply chains makes economic sense, or will ultimately tilt in Europe's favour."What interest do you have as a company in setting up in Chile to produce cathodes, batteries or more sophisticated materials if you don't have a local or regional market to supply?" said Galarza."Why not just take the lithium, refine it and do everything in China and send the battery back to us?"Pointing to the automotive tradition in Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, Galarza suggested an answer."We must push quickly towards the electrification of transport in the region so we can share in the benefits of the energy transition," he the road ahead looks vehicles were only two percent of new car sales in Mexico and Chile last year, six percent in Brazil and seven percent in Colombia, according to the small nation of Costa Rica stood out as the only nation in the region where EVs hit double digits, at 15 percent of new car sales.
