Dark Web Spotlight: T-Mobile 100 Million Breached

Update as of Aug. 20, 2021:  T-Mobile disclosed Friday that about 6 million more customers have had personal information “compromised” than previously thought. T-Mobile is now reporting the total customer records exposed to 47 million. T-Mobile is investigating a possible massive breach of customer data.  The investigation comes after a dark web forum claimed to have 100 million US T-Mobile customer records for sale. The anonymous seller is reportedly seeking six bitcoin — about $270,000 — for data belonging to about 30 million accounts, with the rest allegedly being sold through private channels. If this breach is confirmed, it will affect nearly every T-Mobile customer in the United States. Based on T-Mobile’s last earning reports, they have 104.79 million U.S. customers, almost a third of the US population.  The information brokers claim the stolen data includes: social security numbers, phone numbers, names, physical addresses, unique International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers, and driver’s licenses information. Most of the stolen data is valuable for identity theft. Threat actors can use IMEI numbers to clone phones, disrupt service, and account takeover of various applications.  You can see your IMEI, a 15-digit serial number, by typing *#06# on your keypad. Your IMEI number will be displayed on the screen of your smartphone or cellphone. To see if your IMEI number has been exposed, you can check various online databases such as IMEI.Info.  Data breaches are a major risk for any company, especially when a company is a major utility such as telecommunications. Organizations can help protect themselves with digital risk protection tools such as Data Breach Prevention and Asset Discovery and Monitoring to locate leaks and vulnerabilities proactively.