T-Mobile hack linked to Chinese breaches of telecom networks

US phone giant T-Mobile has been hacked as part of a widespread cyberattack on US and global phone and internet companies in recent months, according to the Wall Street Journal.

T-Mobile said it is “closely monitoring this industry-wide attack, and at this time, T-Mobile’s systems and data have not been impacted in any significant way, and we have no evidence of impacts to customer information,” T-Mobile said. The statement was shared with TechCrunch.

The Wall Street Journal Reported for the first time The hack at T-Mobile, citing sources familiar with the campaign targeting the telecom giants.

An unnamed T-Mobile spokesperson would not say whether the company has the technical means, such as logs, to determine what customer data, if any, was accessed or leaked. The spokesman did not question the newspaper’s report.

T-Mobile is the latest carrier in recent weeks said to have been hit by a hack linked to a series of cyberattacks targeting phone and internet companies, including AT&T, Verizon, and Lumen (formerly known as CenturyLink). The hacks, conducted by a group of hackers working for the Chinese government, dubbed Salt Typhoon, targeted wiretapping systems required by US phone and internet companies under a 30-year-old federal law to allow the government access to customer data.

The FBI and US cybersecurity agency CISA came out this week to warn the broader industry of linked cyberattacks, accusing China of conducting a “widespread and significant cyberespionage campaign” aimed at targeting the call and text records of high-ranking US officials, including presidential candidates.

This is the ninth known cyberattack targeting T-Mobile in recent years, according to an ongoing tally by TechCrunch. The most recent T-Mobile breach was in 2023, which resulted in the theft of personal information from 37 million T-Mobile customers.

Updated with comment from T-Mobile.