Republican Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has warned the public of major cyberattacks “100 times worse” than today’s widespread cell service outages.
As Slay News reported earlier, several major cities were reporting blackouts on cell service from multiple carriers.
The nationwide outages promoted fears of a cyberattack from a foreign adversary.
These reports were also followed later on Thursday by pharmacies being taken down nationwide.
While the cause of the cell service outages has yet to be confirmed, the pharmacies were hit with coordinated cyberattacks, as Slay News reported.
In a post on X, Rubio warned that the cell outage pales in comparison to what a potential China cyberattack would look like.
“I don’t know the cause of the AT&T outage,” Rubio posted Thursday morning on X.
“But I do know it will be 100 times worse when #China launches a cyber attack on America on the eve of a #Taiwan invasion.”
“And it won’t be just cell service they hit, it will be your power, your water, and your bank.”
I don’t know the cause of the AT&T outage
But I do know it will be 100 times worse when #China launches a cyber attack on America on the eve of a #Taiwan invasion
And it won’t be just cell service they hit, it will be your power, your water and your bank
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 22, 2024
Rubio’s warning came as tens of thousands of AT&T customers reported outages on Thursday morning for their home phone, internet, and mobile phone services, according to Down Detector.
The outages started popping up just before 3:30 a.m. ET, according to a graph shown on the website that tracks outages.
Most users, 54%, say they are having issues with mobile phone service.
More than a third of customers reporting being affected say they have no signal at all, and 8% of users say their mobile internet is down.
Some iPhone users said the outrage had locked heir device so that it could only be used for emergency calls.
“Some of our customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning,” AT&T said in a statement.
“We are working urgently to restore service to them.
“We encourage the use of Wi-Fi calling until service is restored.”
More than 74,000 AT&T users reported outages to Down Detector as of 9:30 a.m. ET.
However, while the site counted tens of thousands of users without service, Down Detector only counts individual outage reports made on its website.
The site doesn’t provide data on the total number of people impacted by the outage.
Some X users were reporting that their “entire cities” were without cell service from any networks.
Earlier this month, FBI director Christopher Wray warned that China’s cyberattacks against the U.S. and its allies are reaching a “fever pitch.”
“You might find your companies harassed and hacked, targeted by a web of corporate CCP proxies,” Wray told the leaders gathered in Germany.
“You might also find PRC [People’s Republic of China] hackers lurking in your power stations, your phone companies, and other infrastructure, poised to take them down when they decide you stepped too far out of line, and that hurting your civilian population suits the CCP.”
“China-sponsored hackers pre-positioned for potential cyberattacks against U.S. oil and natural gas companies way back in 2011, but these days, it’s reached something closer to a fever pitch,” he continued.
“What we’re seeing now is China’s increasing build-out of offensive weapons within our critical infrastructure, poised to attack whenever Beijing decides the time is right.”
READ MORE – Widespread Cyberattack Takes Down Pharmacies across America
