The target: T-Mobile, a U.S based cellphone carrier.
The take: Exposure of Personally Identifiable Information of 50 million customers including: addresses, social security numbers, dates of birth, drivers’ licenses, and a small number of account PINs.
The attack vector: The attacker penetrated T-Mobile’s IT systems through an unsecured router, using the lack of credential controls as a launchpad to steal data.
Use of industry standard authentication protocols is an integral part of maintaining a rigorous cybersecurity posture, and it is critical to employ robust practices of credential management, user authentication and validation, around all points of access in a firm’s IT network. An unprotected point of entry on a key piece of equipment like a router can lead to a breach with a cascading effect on data exposure.