T-Mobile confirms data breach that might affect 100 million users

• T-Mobile confirmed being hit by a data breach that might affect tens of millions of customer data.
• The company clarified that it is still investigating whether any personal customer data was involved.
• The seller of information, first reported by Motherboard, is asking for bitcoins in exchange.

T-Mobile confirmed being hit by a data breach on Monday although clarified that it is still investigating whether any personal customer data was involved.

"We have determined that unauthorized access to some T-Mobile data occurred," a spokesperson said in a statement. But "we are confident that the entry point used to gain access has been closed."

The company added that they are addressing the matter with the "highest degree of urgency" but admitted it will "take some time."

The company on August 15 said it is looking into an alleged massive data breach compromising over 100 million users based on a claim made in an underground forum post, according to Vice's Motherboard.

T-mobile said it cannot confirm further details until it has completed its assessment but ensured customers it has enlisted the help of digital forensic experts and law enforcement.

The seller, according to the post, is asking for bitcoin in exchange.

While the post did not mention T-mobile per se, the seller did mention that the data came from T-mobile's servers.

"T-Mobile USA. Full customer info," the seller said in the post, according to Motherboard.

This information included details such as social security numbers, phone numbers, names, physical addresses, and driver's licenses information, the seller said, according to Motherboard.

In exchange, the seller wants six bitcoins, worth around $274,000 as of publishing, just for a portion of the data, which would consist of 30 million social security numbers and driver's licenses.

The seller, according to Motherboard, said they are privately offering the rest of the data.

Shortly after, the seller mentioned being booted out of the servers but claimed to have backed up the data.

"I think they already found out because we lost access to the backdoored servers," the seller said, according to Motherboard. "It's backed up in multiple places."

Cryptocurrencies have been at the center of recent high-profile cyberattacks, demanded as ransom by criminals because transactions are either anonymous or very difficult to trace.

In the US, the Biden administration is said to be ramping up efforts to trace cryptocurrencies used in cyberattacks and is planning to offer bounties of up to $10 million for information that will help catch criminals.