T-Mobile’s data breach also hit Google Fi customers
T-Mobilesuffered a massive data breach earlier in January, severely affecting close to 37 million customers. A lot of their sensitive personal data was compromised in this cyber attack. It now appears that the same breach also included customer data fromGoogle Fi, which counts T-Mobile as one of its network providers.
Recently, Google sent out an email to its Fi subscribers, informing them about the breach and how it affects their data with the MVNO. The company didn’t explicitly name T-Mobile in the text, but we already know that Google Fi relies primarily on T-Mobile’s extensive 5G network besides US Cellular, and only one of them suffered a major hack recently.
Google notes that the compromised system on T-Mobile’s end contained only a limited amount of data on Google Fi subscribers that was used to provide customer support. Still, the details that have ended up in the hands of the hackers include your Google Fi connection details, your SIM’s serial number, plan details, and potentially even your phone number.
More personal details like your name, email, payment details, government IDs, and passwords havenotleaked. It’s worth noting that the same information of T-Mobile subscribers was indeed affected by the hack, so Google Fi subscribers arecomparativelyluckier.
Google’s email reads as follows:
Dear Google Fi customer,
We’re writing to let you know that the primary network provider for Google Fi recently informed us there has been suspicious activity relating to a third party system that contains a limited amount of Google Fi customer data.
There is no action required by you at this time.
This system is used for Google Fi customer support purposes and contains limited data including when your account was activated, data about your mobile service plan, SIM card serial number, and active or inactive account status.
It does not contain your name, date of birth, email address, payment card information, social security number or tax IDs, driver’s license or other form of government ID, or financial account information, passwords or PINs that you may use for Google Fi, or the contents of any SMS messages or calls.
Our incident response team undertook an investigation and determined that unauthorized access occurred and have worked with our primary network provider to identify and implement measures to secure the data on that third party system and notify everyone potentially impacted. There was no access to Google’s systems or any systems overseen by Google.
If you are an active Fi user, please note that your Google Fi service continues to work as usual and was not interrupted by this issue.
What does this mean for me?
The accessed information included your phone number and limited technical information. This includes information about when your account was activated, SIM card serial number, account status (for example, whether your plan is active or inactive), and limited details about the mobile service plan and options provided by your Google Fi service (such as unlimited SMS or international roaming).
Since your more sensitive details with Google Fi are safe, there’s nothing that you need to do to protect your account at this point. Google hasn’t specified whether this T-Mobile breach affected all Fi subscribers or only a subset of them. But either way, it would be a good measure to stay wary of any phishing attacks if you use Google Fi’s services onyour favorite Android phone.
In this entire episode, it’s T-Mobile that must take some concrete steps to safeguard its systems fromrepeated data breachesand provide a sense of security to its own subscribers and the ones with its partners like Google Fi.
Thanks: Nick
Boost Mobile sees changes, too
EA has confirmed the early access release date for the next game in the Skate series
Your new browser chrome-panion
The entry-level Pixel delivers value
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before
This article is sponsored by Total Wireless.
