T-Mobile Confirms It Was Hit By Data Breach

T-Mobile confirmed that it has been hit by a data breach. This confirmation reveals that “some” unauthorized access to its data did occur. However, the company has declined to say whether any personal information from customers was accessed or how widespread the damage may be. It’s reported that this massive data breach may have exposed the sensitive personal information of as many as 100 million T-Mobile customers. The information reportedly includes people’s social security numbers, phone numbers, physical addresses, IMEI numbers, and driver’s licenses. According to an online publication, the hacker claims to have obtained the information from multiple T-Mobile servers. The publication has cited samples of the data and confirms that it contains accurate details about T-Mobile users.

The company’s acknowledgment of a breach comes after hackers told Vice that they were selling “full customer info” obtained from T-Mobile servers that pertained to what the hackers claimed were over 100 million people. The hacker is also looking to make a pretty penny by selling this huge trove of personal data on an underground forum. The asking price is six bitcoins, which amounts to around $270,000, for a subset of data of 30 million T-Mobile customers. The company said it was “aware of claims made in an underground forum” and “actively investigating their validity.” T-Mobile further said in its statement that it is confident the entry point used to gain access to its data has been closed. “This investigation will take some time but we are working with the highest degree of urgency,” to investigate the breach

The company continues in its statement “We have been working around the clock to investigate claims being made that T-Mobile data may have been illegally accessed,” the company added, that it is working with law enforcement on the matter. “We have determined that unauthorized access to some T-Mobile data occurred, however, we have not yet determined that there is any personal customer data involved.” “Until we have completed this assessment we cannot confirm the reported number of records affected or the validity of statements made by others,” says the statement.

T-Mobile vowed to continue updating customers and other stakeholders once the investigation had uncovered more answers. However, reports reveal this is the third time in recent years that a data breach has hit the wireless carrier. Reports hold as far back as 2018 when T-Mobile revealed a breach that potentially exposed information such as customers’ email addresses and phone numbers. One year later, the wireless carrier disclosed a “criminal hack” of customer data, exposing personal information such as names, billing addresses, phone numbers, account numbers, and wireless plans. It remains unclear what’ll happen to the stolen data of millions of T-Mobile users as claimed by the hacker. However, if this data ends up being sold, it could potentially harm all the affected users and also spark lawsuits against T-Mobile. Stay updated with other tech news here