DATA OF 40 MILLION PLUS EXPOSED IN LATEST T-MOBILE BREACH

The names, Social Security numbers and information from driver’s licenses or other identification of just over 40 million people who applied for T-Mobile credit were exposed in a recent data breach, the company said.

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The same data for about 7.8 million current T-Mobile customers who pay monthly for phone service also appears to be compromised. No phone numbers, account numbers, PINs, passwords or financial information from the nearly 50 million records and accounts were compromised, it said.

T-Mobile has been hit before by data theft but in the most recent case, “the sheer numbers far exceed the previous breaches,” said Gartner analyst Paul Furtado.

T-Mobile, which is based in Bellevue, Washington, became one of the country’s largest cellphone service carriers, along with AT&T and Verizon, after buying rival Sprint.

“Yes, they have a big target on their back but that shouldn’t be a surprise to them,” Furtado said. “You have to start questioning the organization. How much are they actually addressing these breaches and the level of seriousness?”