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T-Mobile says data for 6 million additional customers compromised in breach
The latest data breach that targeted T-Mobile is just one in a growing list of cybersecurity attacks that have occurred this year. But marketing experts and analysts say that it probably won’t be enough to persuade customers to switch carriers.
Were you part of the T-Mobile hack? T-Mobile said the hack exposed personal data of more than 7.8 million current customers and 40 million former or prospective customers, including names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and other personal information. In total, more than 50 million current, former and prospective customers for T-Mobile and its prepaid Metro network may have been compromised. No financial information, account numbers or passwords were stolen, the company said.
In general, stolen personal information that leads data thieves to your identity can let hackers do everything from make purchases and open up credit accounts in your name, to file for your tax refunds and make medical claims, all posing as “you.” What’s worse, billions of these hacked login credentials are available on the dark web, neatly packaged for hackers to easily download for free.
You can’t stop sites getting hacked, but you can take a few steps to check if your information may be compromised, and to limit the damage done from the breach. If you use a password manager that creates unique passwords, you can ensure that if one site gets breached, your stolen password won’t give hackers access to your accounts on other sites. (A good password manager can help you manage all your login information, making it easy to create and then use unique passwords.)
SEE MESSAGE SENT TO T-MOBILE CUSTOMERS
T-Mobile has determined that unauthorized access to some of your information, or others on your account, has occurred, like name, address, phone number and DOB. Importantly, we have NO information that indicates your SSN, personal financial or payment information, credit/debit card information, account numbers, or account passwords were accessed. We take the protection of our customers seriously. Learn more about practices that keep your account secure and general recommendations for protecting yourself: t-mo.co/Protect