Massachusetts’ attorney general, Maura Healey, said on Tuesday her office will investigate the cyberattack against T-Mobile that exposed the personal information of more than 53 million people.
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One of the numerous large-scale cyber attacks in recent years, T- Mobile — the third-largest U.S. wireless carrier– disclosed their breach on August 16.
The breach exposed loads of personal data including names, birth dates, social security numbers, driver’s license information, and PIN numbers belonging to an estimated 13 million current and 40 million former and prospective T-Mobile customers.
Healey plans to investigate whether the company had proper processes and safeguards to protect customers’ personal information and mobile devices.
“My office is extremely concerned about how this data breach may have put the personal information of Massachusetts consumers at risk,” Healey said. “As we investigate to understand the full extent of what’s happened, we urge impacted consumers to take the necessary precautions to ensure their information is safe, and to prevent identity theft and fraud.”
T-Mobile did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It has stated the breach did not expose financial, credit card or other payment information.
T-Mobile consumers and other private plaintiffs have filed at least 23 lawsuits against the telecommunications giant over the breach, court records show. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission opened a related probe into the Bellevue, Washington-based company last month.
Mike Sievert, chief executive of T-Mobile, said in a statement last month that he was “truly sorry” for the cyber breach, and that the incident was a “humbling” experience for everyone at the company. “We didn’t live up to the expectations we have for ourselves to protect our customers,” he said. “Knowing that we failed to prevent this exposure is one of the hardest parts of this event.”
He claimed that the breach had been contained, and described the investigation into it as “substantially complete.” Nearly every customer who had their data compromised has been notified, he noted, confirming that no financial information — such as credit or debit card numbers — was accessed.
T-Mobile is offering all affected customers two years of free identity protection, and suggests its customers reset their account pins and passwords as soon as possible. Consumers can access a hotline by dialing 611 from a T-Mobile phone or calling 1-800-937-8997.
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