The group has been targeted by cybercriminals.
(Photo: dpa)
new York The Telekom subsidiary T-Mobile has become the target of a cyber attack. On January 5, it was found that a third party was accessing data without authorization, T-Mobile US announced on Thursday after the US stock market closed. With the help of external experts, the source of the attack was found and stopped within a day of becoming known.
The investigations were still ongoing. It cannot be ruled out that high costs were incurred as a result of the attack, which began on or around November 25.
According to this, the hackers were able to access the data of around 37 million customers and see names, billing and e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth and bank account numbers. Based on current knowledge, the attacker was not able to access any other sensitive data, it said.
The successful attack represents the second major IT security breach at T-Mobile US in two years, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. Shares fell more than 2 percent in after-hours trading.
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The leak became known on Thursday through a report to the US telecommunications supervisor. The company said it was working with law enforcement and cybersecurity advisors.
Attack via interface
Affected customers are currently being notified. Credit card, social security numbers and account passwords have not been compromised as of now. T-Mobile US has more than 110 million customers. Accordingly, the data of 37 million postpaid and prepaid customer accounts were probably disclosed.
“Some basic customer information was obtained,” T-Mobile said in a statement. These are almost entirely “widely available in marketing databases or directories.”
The company stated that the hacker or hackers had illegally retrieved data via a so-called API interface. T-Mobile said it ceased operations within 24 hours of their discovery.
T-Mobile US had already admitted a security gap in 2022 after the data of more than 76 million US citizens was disclosed, including on data trading platforms on the Internet. According to media reports, T-Mobile US agreed to a $350 million settlement to settle a class-action lawsuit.
T-Mobile US is an important source of revenue for Deutsche Telekom, which wanted to sell the US subsidiary years ago. In September, T-Mobile US had overtaken its US rivals Verizon and AT&T in its stock market valuation.
With material from dpa.
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