Frontier Communications confirms over 750,000 people affected in data breach

Frontier Communications has confirmed the extent of damage it suffered following a recent data breach, court filings show. 

Submitted to Maine’s attorney general, the data breach notification revealed that a total of 751,895 people had been affected by the data breach which occurred earlier this year.

The US telecommunications company originally raised the alarm about the data breach in April 2024, filing with the Securities and Exchange Committee (SEC), though this filing sheds more light on the incident. 

The breach is described as an “external system breach” within the filing, with the identifiable information acquired by the third party including customer social security numbers. 

Attached is a copy of the notice sent to Maine residents, informing them of the potential breach of their data and the necessary next steps to be aware of. Of the total number of people affected, 139 are residents of Maine. 

“We are writing to inform you that some of your personal information may have been accessed by a third party during a recent cyber incident at Frontier Communications Parent, Inc. (“Frontier”),” Frontier said in the letter. 

Frontier states that it takes “the security of information in our care seriously” and, following its discovery of the incident, has been liaising with cyber security experts to “strengthen” network security and prevent further access.

The firm also stated it would be offering “one year of complimentary credit monitoring and identity theft resolution services to help protect your information” by way of compensation.

It advised that customers “remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud” by reviewing account statements and monitoring account activity for signs of suspicious behavior.

The breach took Frontier Communications offline 

Frontier Communications was forced to shut down its systems in the wake of the original breach after detecting unauthorized access from an external third party.

With 3 million broadband users across 25 states, the breach had a widespread impact across the country, with internet access stopped for millions of US citizens. 

At the time, Frontier claimed that it had “contained the incident” and had restored “its core information technology environment and is in the process of restoring normal business operations”.

The firm’s initial investigation revealed the third party responsible for the breach was “likely a cybercrime group,” according to the Frontier’s SEC filing.