Rubio warns Chinese cyberattack ‘will be 100 times worse’ than AT&T outage: ‘Your power, your water’

Tens of thousands of people reported cell phone outages on Thursday

GOP Sen. Marco Rubio warned on social media that the AT&T outage affecting tens of thousands of Americans pales in comparison to what a potential China cyberattack would look like.

“I don’t know the cause of the AT&T outage,” the Florida Republican posted on X on Thursday. “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.”

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 Downdetector.

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 of our customers are experiencing wireless service interruptions this morning,” AT&T told FOX Business 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 Downdetector as of 9:30 a.m. ET.  

Earlier this month, FBI director Christopher Wray warned that China’s cyberattacks against the U.S. and its allies are reaching a “fever pitch.”

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