T-Mobile just suffered a massive data leak
If the claims about what data has been leaked are true, the Uncarrier could be in a lot of trouble.
Summary:
T-Mobile suffered a huge data breach that reportedly targeted 100 million users.
According to Motherboard, the hackers leaked personal info like SSNs and addresses to sellers on the dark web.
So far, T-Mobile hasn’t said much beyond the fact they’re “investigating” the claims.
T-Mobile, the third-largest carrier in the United States, just suffered a massive data leak. The company confirmed that some amount of information from its databases did escape its clutches, although the Uncarrier didn’t confirm how much of it. According to Motherboard, the number sits at around 100 million unique users.
That’s a lot, and it’s even more significant when you consider what was included in the data breach. Motherboard, who was first to report on the leak, says the actual seller of the data told them 100 million users had personal information like Social Security numbers, addresses, and driver licenses exposed. The seller is apparently offering that data on 30 million people for around $270,000.
This is a serious leak, assuming the reports that surfaced about it are accurate. So far, all we’ve heard from T-Mobile is a three-paragraph press release that claims it has “not yet determined” whether any of the compromised data belongs to customers.
We have determined that unauthorized access to some T-Mobile data occurred, however we have not yet determined that there is any personal customer data involved. We are confident that the entry point used to gain access has been closed, and we are continuing our deep technical review of the situation across our systems to identify the nature of any data that was illegally accessed. This investigation will take some time but we are working with the highest degree of urgency. Until we have completed this assessment we cannot confirm the reported number of records affected or the validity of statements made by others.
It’s understandable that T-Mobile is trying to ease the concern of its customers. In its report, Motherboard quotes a member of an underground forum who claims to be selling the data in question. Obviously, we don’t know who this person could be or which underground forum they belong to, but with the publication saying things like “Motherboard has seen samples of the data, and confirmed they contained accurate information on T-Mobile customers,” it’s only right for customers to raise their eyebrows.
Last night, T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert spoke publicly about the leak on Twitter with a link to the press release.

Do we know when we might have all the answers on the data breach? No. Will T-Mobile tell us how much longer we have to wait? Probably not. However, I’ll be following this story closely and watch for developments. The public needs answers, and hopefully the Uncarrier will deliver them sooner than later.
Tapping The Wire
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Apple has published more details on how it’ll manage to scan your iCloud photos for CSAM after the company has faced harsh criticism for not being as open or honest about how it’ll do so. The thing that stands out the most is Apple’s use of multiple CSAM databases to identify child abuse imagery. A photo’s hash would need to be identified in at least two different databases which, as a result, means certain governments can’t upload hashes they claim to be CSAM to protect authoritarian laws.
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Mark Bloomberg via his Power On newsletter detailed a ton of Apple’s plans for this fall like the iPhone 13, Apple Watch Series 7, new AirPods, MacBooks, and iPad mini. It’s too much to detail here, but I’ll have more info in a post later today on Matridox.
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Why wasn’t this here before?