It seems T-Mobile was also hacked in massive telecomm breach by China-linked hackers

Over the past month, numerous cyberattacks have targeted telecom providers in the U.S., attributed to the China-linked hacker group Salt Typhoon. Previous reports indicated that CenturyLink, AT&T, and Verizon were among the providers affected. It now appears that T-Mobile was one of the networks the hackers attempted to breach, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

The good news is that T-Mobile its customers should not be impacted by the attempted breach. A T-Mobile rep told us, “T-Mobile is closely monitoring this industry-wide attack. Due to our security controls, network structure and diligent monitoring and response we have seen no significant impacts to T-Mobile systems or data. We have no evidence of access or exfiltration of any customer or other sensitive information as other companies may have experienced. We will continue to monitor this closely, working with industry peers and the relevant authorities.”

So, what exactly were the hackers after? A joint statement from the FBI and CISA released earlier this week provides some clarity. The statement implicates the Chinese government in a broad cyber-espionage campaign targeting U.S. telecom providers. The goal appears to be the theft of call records and communications from a limited number of individuals, primarily those involved in political or government activities.

While it is reassuring that this particular breach does not seem to target the average customer, it contributes to a concerning trend of security incidents involving T-Mobile. In fact, the carrier has experienced a total of nine breaches since 2019.