T-Mobile announced in a Monday (Aug. 16th) press release that user data may have been been accessed illegally through a cyber breach, noting that they are “working around the clock” to investigate the incident.
T-Mobile noted in the release that it found there was unauthorized access, however they are 'still looking' into the possibility that the breach contained any personal customer data.
However contrary to this press release some news came to light that sensitive information from more than 100 million T-Mobile users was being sold on the dark web. The data included users’ names; Social Security numbers; phone numbers; physical addresses; driver license details; and unique IMEI numbers.
An underground forum reported having a customer data set selling for 6 bitcoin (about $270,000). That came with 30 million Social Security numbers and drivers license details. According to the seller, the rest of the data was in the process of being sold as well, in a private manner.
“We take the protection of our customers very seriously, and we are conducting an extensive analysis alongside digital forensic experts to understand the validity of these claims, and we are coordinating with law enforcement,” the company stated in the release.
The company said in the release that they will be issuing constant updates to help answer customers’ questions and concerns.