Experian, a credit and data vendor, this week announced the breach of sensitive data relating to approximately 15 million T-Mobile customers, in an event that has T-Mobile CEO John Legere “incredibly angry.”
Experian processes credit applications for T-Mobile, and according to the two companies, hackers stole the information of customers applying for service or mobile device financing between Sept. 1, 2013 and Sept. 16, 2015. Experian had stored information such as name, address, and birth date, along with encrypted data that may have been compromised by such as Social Security number and government-issued ID numbers.
T-Mobile’s Legere quickly Tweeted about the incident and released a statement on the wireless carrier’s website.
“Whether it’s good news or bad, I’m going to be direct, transparent and honest,” he stated. “Obviously I am incredibly angry about this data breach and we will institute a thorough review of our relationship with Experian, but right now my top concern and first focus is assisting any and all consumers affected. I take our customer and prospective customer privacy VERY seriously. This is no small issue for us. I do want to assure our customers that neither T-Mobile’s systems nor network were part of this intrusion and this did not involve any payment card numbers or bank account information. Experian has assured us that they have taken aggressive steps to improve the protection of their system and of our data.”
Experian reported that its other consumer credit databases were not affected, nor were any other clients’ data accessed.
“At this time, we have no indication that T-Mobile’s information has been used inappropriately,” stated Experian on its website. “As soon as Experian detected the unauthorized access, we notified law enforcement and initiated a full investigation. We continue to investigate the incident and we are taking the necessary steps to prevent it from recurring. We are addressing this issue with strengthened IT security, and we are providing those affected by this theft with the assistance they need. This has been a top priority for Experian. When Experian discovered this intrusion, we quickly notified law enforcement.”
T-Mobile’s Legere indicated that affected consumers will be notified by Nov. 30, 2015, and offered two years’ of credit monitoring services.
Experian has previously been involved in data breaches, having inadvertently sold consumer data to a suspected identity thief through a subsidiary firm.
Erin is the managing editor of Advisen’s Front Page News. She has been covering property-casualty insurance since 2000. Previously, Erin served as editor-in-chief of The Standard, New England’s Insurance Weekly. Erin is based in Boston, Mass. Contact Erin at [email protected].
