Data theft: T-Mobile US wants to pay 500 million dollars in comparison
Millions of customer data from Deutsche Telekom’s US subsidiary were tapped last year. Now she wants to pay money without admitting any guilt.
The US telecom subsidiary T-Mobile US plans to pay half a billion dollars to settle user complaints after a major cyber attack. Of this, 350 million US dollars (343 million euros) are to flow into a fund for suing US customers, according to an agreement published over the weekend. T-Mobile US plans to spend a further 150 million dollars this year and next to improve cyber security.
In August 2021, T-Mobile US confirmed that data had been stolen from millions of customers. According to court documents, 76.6 million US residents are affected. The stolen user data included names and telephone numbers. A little later it became known that the unknown attackers had exploited a hole in an unprotected router. To do this, they searched T-Mobile’s Internet address for vulnerabilities using a publicly accessible tool.
Insufficient protection
After the cyber attack, T-Mobile US was accused of insufficient protection of user data in class action lawsuits. In December 2021, multiple lawsuits were consolidated in Missouri (Case No. 21-md-03019-BCW). As is usual in such cases, T-Mobile US expressly states that the agreement does not constitute an admission of guilt.
The deal still has to be approved by the responsible judge in the US state of Missouri. According to T-Mobile US, this could happen in December – but appeals could still cause delays, it said.
According to its own statements, T-Mobile US had almost 110 million customers in the USA at the end of the first quarter of 2022. With them, the company turned over 20 billion US dollars in the three months and generated a net profit of 713 million US dollars. In April of this year, Deutsche Telekom increased its stake in the US subsidiary to 48.4 percent.
