Failure of T-Mobile US Inc. allowed hackers to steal information about more than 40 million people and potentially sell the data to digital scammers and identity thieves.
This is what we know about hacking, what data was stolen and what customers need to do to protect themselves.
What did the T-Mobile data breach entail?
T-Mobile said it learned late last week that a person in an online forum claimed to have breached their systems and was trying to sell stolen customer data. The company confirmed on August 16 that it had been hacked, adding the next day that the attackers came out with personal data of about 48 million people. Among those victims are 7.8 million current postpaid customers, T-Mobile said, and about 40 million old and potential customers who applied for plans.
Although U.S. officials have warned of an increase in ransomware attacks in recent months, T-Mobile hackers did not block the company’s systems and demanded payment. Instead, the attackers broke into the company’s servers through an open access point, stole data and have since tried to sell different sets of information online for a value between bitcoin of $ 80,000 and $ 270,000. .
The attack is the latest and worst in a series of cybersecurity incidents at the company, said Allie Mellen, a cybersecurity analyst at research firm Forrester Inc.