Hackers Have Stolen T-Mobile US’s Corporate Data, Customer Accounts And Network Infrastructure Details
Hackers claim to have stolen all T-Mobile US’s corporate data, customer accounts and network infrastructure. It includes databases, confidential documents, scripts and programs from T-Mobile servers, financial documents up to 2009. T-Mobile has 148m subscribers worldwide and 33m in the US.
The mail, sent to The Reg, claims that the group tried to sell the data to T-Mobile’s competitors, but was turned down. It is now offering it for sale to the highest bidder. The message said the group tried contacting people by email. But given spam filters, and the weekend timing of the leak, it could be the messages never got through.
The mail contains some details of what has been stolen, and is available from the insecure.org.
A T-Mobile spokesman said 2 days ago: “The protection of our customers’ information, and the safety and security of our systems, is absolutely paramount at T-Mobile. Regarding the recent claim, we are fully investigating the matter. As is our standard practice, if there is any evidence that customer information has been compromised, we would inform those affected as soon as possible.”
Yesterday T-Mobile has confirmed that files posted on a full disclosure mailing list are genuine – but the company fails to explain whether or not cybercriminals really got full access to its systems, IDG reports.
T-Mobile, which is investigating the hack, has issued an updated statement that the data posted matches a document on its system, but this failed to prove that customer records or other sensitive files had also been compromised:
To reaffirm, the protection of our customers’ information and the security of our systems is paramount at T-Mobile.
Regarding the recent claim on a Web site, we’ve identified the document from which information was copied, and believe possession of this alone is not enough to cause harm to our customers.
We continue to investigate the matter, and have taken additional precautionary measures to further ensure our customers’ information and our systems are protected.
At this moment, we are unable to disclose additional information in order to protect the integrity of the investigation, but customers can be assured if there is any evidence that customer information has been compromised, we would inform those affected as quickly as possible.
Given that the hackers are attempting to attract bids for the purloined data, it’s odd that they didn’t publish a sample of customer records – or similarly juicy information – rather than network scans of little interest to anyone except security anoraks. A sample of data of greater interest would surely attract more interest in bidding for the information, if that was the intention.
Some security firms are beginning to conclude that the hackers are holding little beyond the network scan data already posted. Amichai Shulman, CTO of Imperva, commented: “Rumours of a major T-Mobile data breach are all over the internet as hackers are reportedly selling confidential data to the highest bidder. Hackers have posted a list of servers they allegedly accessed and it is very comprehensive with some sensitive info in it.
Reports of the breach against T-Mobile US, alongside a previous confirmed leak of consumer data from parent firm Deutsche Telekom last year, detract from the firm’s overall reputation in security, Shulman argued.
“Telecom operators, with the massive amounts of data they store and collect, remain prime targets. Less than three years ago, T-Mobile’s owner, Deutsche Telekom, experienced a breach losing 17 million records.
“The cumulative impact of these breaches will threaten not only T-Mobile’s brand image, but could also impact any telecommunications provider unless the issue of data security is vigorously addressed.”
Credit: The Register
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