After launching an investigation into a potential massive hacking of personal information by a group of hackers, T-Mobile confirmed, Monday, April 16, that there had been an intrusion into its computer system.
“Unauthorized access to T-Mobile data has occurred, but we have not yet determined whether personal user data is affected”, said a spokesperson for the US telephone operator. “The access point has been closed, and we are continuing our in-depth technical investigation of the situation, on all our systems, to identify the nature of the data that was found illegally”, he added.
According to the assertions of a group of hackers, the attack would have made it possible to collect confidential data, – in particular tax identification numbers or driving licenses -, from a hundred million customers to market them on the dark Web, the hidden part of the internet.
Multiplication of computer attacks
Based on screenshots posted by the IT security site Bleeping Computer, the personal information of at least 30 million people has been offered for sale on forums for the equivalent of 280,000 bitcoins (or about 11 billion euros). The hack, which allegedly took place in early August, was first reported by the news site Motherboard (Vice), who quoted a seller claiming to have “All consumer information” of T-Mobile customers.
“The investigation will take time, but we are working with the greatest urgency. As long as it is not finished, we will not be able to confirm the number of affected data or the veracity of declarations coming from other entities ”, T-Mobile said.
Data theft and ransomware attacks have escalated in recent months, targeting various companies and organizations, including Colonial Pipeline, an American pipeline operator, the Irish health services IT system and a major Indian airline. Facebook, Yahoo and Marriott have suffered theft of personal information concerning more than 100 million of their users or customers in recent years.
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