T-Mobile Data at Risk of Unauthorized Access

T-Mobile again falls victim to a cyberattack which is the fourth one since 2020. This time the breach involves sensitive personal information linked with around 48 million people, most of whom were prospective or former customers of the self-styled un-carrier.Here is an analysis of what exactly happened, the hazards users may face, and ways to defend such calamities

What data was stolen?

According to T-Mobile, the whipped data included a variety of sensitive data like personal details, driver’s license information, and Social Security numbers. The company said that in most cases, no financial information, passwords, personal identification numbers, account numbers, or phone numbers were compromised. On the other hand, approximately 850,000 customers had their account PINs, phone numbers, and names exposed who had prepaid accounts,revealed. Last week, the hackers started selling the data as per security researcher Brian Krebs who projected that the data would soon end up online. Though the possible total people who fall victim to the fraud is vast, by T-Mobile statistics it embodies less than 50% of the company’s present customers.

What are the risks?

Krebs warned, in recent years the number of data breaches have increased enormously. Those who have fallen victim to such attacks may face phishing scams, greater risks of identity theft and other forms of fraud.

How do you protect yourself?

The primary protective measure to take is to freeze your credit files that will stop anyone from starting a new account. In the meantime, T-Mobile has provided a list of things to do in order to stay protected from fraud:

• Generate a PIN for your phone account
• Get started with account takeover protection feature by T-Mobile
• Change all the passwords and PIN