The FBI and Philippine law enforcement officials arrested four people in the Philippines this week who were allegedly paid by terrorists to hack into AT&T's system, but the US telecoms company said its network was not breached.
The four, who were arrested Wednesday in Manila, were paid by the same Saudi Arabian-based terrorist group identified by the FBI as funding the 2008 attack on Mumbai, the Philippines' Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) said in a statement. The coordinated attacks in India's largest city claimed 164 lives and wounded at least 308.
"The hacking activity resulted in almost $2m (£1.28m) in losses incurred by the company," the CIDG said in a statement.
The suspects hacked the trunk-like PBX (private branch exchange) phone lines of different telecommunications companies, including AT&T, the CIDG said. Money stolen in the hacks was diverted to bank accounts belonging to the terrorists, who paid the Filipino hackers on commission, the group said.
For more on this ZDNet UK-selected story, see Four hack suspects linked to terrorist group on CNET News.
Get the latest technology news and analysis, blogs and reviews delivered directly to your inbox with ZDNet UK's newsletters.
