US Telecom Company T-Mobile Hacked... Possible Personal Data Breach

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The database of U.S. mobile carrier T-Mobile has been subjected to a hacking attack. There is a possibility that the personal information of 100 million subscribers has been leaked.

On the 16th (local time), T-Mobile stated, "There was unauthorized access to our data," and "We are investigating what information was hacked," according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

The day before, U.S. IT media VICE Motherboard reported that a post appeared in a hacker community selling the personal information of more than 100 million T-Mobile subscribers. It is known that subscribers' names, addresses, phone numbers, Social Security Numbers (SSN), driver's licenses, and smartphone identification information were leaked.

In response, T-Mobile explained on the same day, "We have found that our customers' personal information is listed for sale on the internet, but it is not yet confirmed whether this is due to the recent hacking."

T-Mobile became the second-largest mobile carrier in the U.S. after merging with competitor Sprint last year. As of the second quarter of this year, it has 108 million subscribers, closing in on the top company Verizon, which has 150 million subscribers.