AT&T Inc. acknowledged in a press release that its computer system has been hacked. The company also admitted that customers who were involved in transactions via AT&T's online web store in relation with the purchasing of DSL equipment, have had their sensitive data exposed.

"The unauthorized electronic access took place over the weekend, was discovered within hours and the online store was shut down immediately. AT&T also quickly notified the major credit card companies whose customer accounts were involved. The company is also working with law enforcement to investigate the incident and pursue the perpetrators," explained AT&T via a press release.

AT&T has also revealed in the press release that the 19,000 customers involved have been notified by the security breach and that the company has taken additional measures to assist the protection of those involved, including by financially backing up credit monitoring services.

"We recognize that there is an active market for illegally obtained personal information. We are committed to both protecting our customers' privacy and to weeding out and punishing the violators," said Priscilla Hill- Ardoin, chief privacy officer for AT&T. "We deeply regret this incident and we intend to pay for credit monitoring services for customers whose accounts have been impacted. We will work closely with law enforcement to bring these data thieves to account."