T-Mobile Customers Must Read

[Gollnick]

You may have seen the news reports that Paris Hilton's cell phone was hacked and her address book and other information put up on the internet. That may sound funny, but it was a T-Mobile phone. And here's what you need to know:


http://www.securityfocus.com/printable/news/10271

A sophisticated computer hacker had access to servers at wireless giant T-Mobile for at least a year, which he used to monitor U.S. Secret Service e-mail, obtain customers' passwords and Social Security numbers, and download candid photos taken by Sidekick users, including Hollywood celebrities, SecurityFocus has learned.

...


Jacobsen could access information on any of the Bellevue, Washington-based company's 16.3 million customers, including many customers' Social Security numbers and dates of birth, according to government filings in the case. He could also obtain voicemail PINs, and the passwords providing customers with Web access to their T-Mobile e-mail accounts.

...

offering reverse lookup of information for a t-mobile cell phone, by phone number at the very least, you get name, ssn, and DOB at the upper end of the information returned, you get web username/password, voicemail password, secret question/answer, sim#, IMEA#, and more,"

...

T-Mobile, which apparently knew of the intrusions by July of last year, has not issued any public warning.

 

[Peter Atwood]

Thanks for the head's up. They better be doing something about this......

 

[Gollnick]

They are in cover-up and denial mode.

I called T-Mobile customer service yesterday and asked about this and was told that all questions about this matter were being handled by their "Media Relations Office." I was given a separate phone number (toll call) to call. I explained that I am not "media," not a reporter or anything, but an ordinary T-Mobile customer. I was told that I still had to go through Media Relations. So, I called. But Media Relations response was "we only talk to members of the media, press, reporters, etc., not common customers."

So I called customer service again thinking that the first rep just made a mistake. The second repeated the Media Relations line to me. After a bit of a discussion, he told me that all questions about this matter had to be submitted in writting to their legal department and provided an address.

After considerable argument, he transferred me to another fellow who insisted that this matter had been taken care of and the hacker arrested in October. All security holes were locked tight now and I have nothing to worry about. "So," I asked, "if the one-and-only hacker is in jail and your security is now air-tight, how did Paris Hilton's whole file end up on the Internet over the weekend?"

No answer.

 

[tonyccw]

"So," I asked, "if the one-and-only hacker is in jail and your security is now air-tight, how did Paris Hilton's whole file end up on the Internet over the weekend?"

No answer.

You're assuming that Paris's file are current. Something not yet confirmed.

 

[Gollnick]

That's a good question.

My understanding is that it's quite current. I saw one music celebrity quoted as saying something like, "I only gave that <explicative deleted> my number last week. I didn't think she'd <explicative deleted> program it into her <explicative deleted> cell phone."