T-Mobile hacked by Chinese cyber espionage in major attack on US telecoms

The telecom industry is one of cybercriminals' favorite targets, likely because of the sensitive data it stores. Your carrier knows what you search for on the web, which websites you visit, who you call and what you text. This type of information is valuable not only to hackers but also to governments. That's probably why U.S. phone giant T-Mobile was hacked as part of a broad cyberattack on domestic and international phone and internet companies in recent months.

T-Mobile's network was compromised in a major Chinese cyber-espionage operation targeting multiple U.S. and international telecommunications companies, according to a report that cited sources familiar with the matter.

The report revealed that hackers connected to a Chinese intelligence agency breached T-Mobile as part of a monthslong effort to spy on the cellphone communications of high-value intelligence targets. However, the report did not specify when the attack occurred, and it remains unclear whether any information about T-Mobile customers' calls or communication records was stolen.

CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) and the FBI issued a joint statement revealing "a broad and significant" cyber espionage campaign. The statement disclosed that PRC-affiliated hackers had breached networks at "multiple telecommunications companies" across the United States. While CISA and the FBI did not name the organizations affected, multiple reports suggest that T-Mobile, AT&T, Lumen (formerly CenturyLink) and Verizon are likely on the list.

WSJ reported in October that Chinese hackers had access to the networks "for months or longer," enabling them to collect "internet traffic from internet service providers that count businesses large and small and millions of Americans as their customers."

T-Mobile has faced several hacks in recent years. In 2021, a malicious actor breached T-Mobile's lab environment by posing as a legitimate connection to an unidentified piece of equipment. The hacker guessed passwords for multiple servers and moved laterally through the network, ultimately stealing personal data, including names, addresses, Social Security numbers and driver's license IDs, from tens of millions of customers.

In 2022, T-Mobile experienced another breach when a malicious actor used SIM-swapping, phishing and other tactics to infiltrate the company's internal platform for managing mobile resellers who serve T-Mobile customers.

The troubles continued into 2023. Early in the year, hackers used phished credentials from dozens of T-Mobile retail employees to access a sales application originally set up during the COVID-19 pandemic for remote viewing of customer data. Then, in January 2023, a misconfigured application programming interface exposed personal data for 37 million current customers, marking yet another significant security lapse.

When CyberGuy reached out to T-Mobile regarding the latest security incident, a spokesperson provided the following statement: "T-Mobile is closely monitoring this industry-wide attack. Due to our security controls, network structure and diligent monitoring and response we have seen no significant impacts to T-Mobile systems or data. We have no evidence of access or exfiltration of any customer or other sensitive information as other companies may have experienced. We will continue to monitor this closely, working with industry peers and the relevant authorities."

5) Guard against phishing scams with strong antivirus software: Be cautious about unsolicited calls, texts or emails that ask for personal information or account access. Legitimate companies won't ask for sensitive details this way. If something seems off, contact your telecom provider directly through official channels. Whatever you do, don't click on links, as they can lead to scams or malware.

Telecom providers like T-Mobile and AT&T are frequent targets for hackers. Over the last two years, millions of Americans have had their data stolen, things like call records, text messages and even personal details. The issue got so bad that the FCC stepped in, warning T-Mobile to step up its cybersecurity efforts. The company was fined about $30 million, split between a $15 million penalty and a mandatory $15 million investment in better security. Unfortunately, if the companies handling your data keep getting breached, there's only so much you can do.

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