Data stolen from 37 million T-Mobile customers

Boston. The US telephone company T-Mobile said Thursday that an unidentified intruder broke into its network in late November and stole data from 37 million customers, including addresses, phone numbers and dates of birth.

T-Mobile said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that the hack was discovered on January 5. It indicated that the data exposed, according to the investigation to date, did not include passwords, PINs, bank account or credit card information, Social Security numbers or other government identification.

“Our investigation is still ongoing, but it appears the malicious activity is fully contained at this time,” T-Mobile said. The company did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

It stated that the first improper access to the data occurred on or around November 25.

T-Mobile said it notified law enforcement and federal agencies of the problem, though it did not say which ones. The company said it does not expect the incident to have a material impact on its operations.

Nevertheless, An analyst at Moody’s Investors Service, Neil Mack, said in a statement that the improper access raises questions about the firm’s cybersecurity measures and could alienate clients and attract an investigation by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC). for its acronym in English) and other control agencies.

“While these cybersecurity breaches may not be systemic, their frequency at T-Mobile is alarming and atypical when compared to other telecommunications firms,” Mack said.

T-Mobile has been hacked multiple times in recent years. In July it agreed to pay $350 million to customers who filed a class action lawsuit after the company disclosed in August 2021 the theft of personal data such as Social Security numbers and driver’s license information. Nearly 80 million people were affected in the United States.

He also said on that occasion that he would allocate $150 million through 2023 to strengthen data security and other technologies.

Prior to the August 2021 breach, the company had revealed that similar hacks occurred in January 2021, November 2019, and August 2018.

Bellevue, Washington-based T-Mobile became one of the nation’s largest cellphone carriers in 2020 after buying competitor Sprint. It said it had more than 102 million customers after the merger.