The world is connected by copper. It's a huge target for thieves

Key points

• The world is connected by copper.
• It's a huge target for thieves toggle caption John Ruwitch/NPR Stay up to date with our Up First newsletter sent every weekday morning.
• In an industrial yard off a highway east of San Francisco, AT&T workers crowd around cold, hard evidence of a growing problem.
• "Sitting here [is] a truck full of what is stolen copper cable," says Todd Swensen, from AT&T's construction and engineering division.
• The jumble of cables and wires, about the size of a truck tire, was recovered from a metal recycler.