T-Mobile data breach exposes about 37 million accounts

(Reuters) — Wireless carrier T-Mobile said Thursday it was investigating a data breach that may have exposed 37 million postpaid and prepaid accounts.

It's the second major cyberattack against T-Mobile in less than two years and comes months after the carrier agreed to upgrade its data security to settle litigation related to a 2021 incident that compromised information of an estimated 76.6 million people.

The company identified malicious activity on Jan. 5 and contained it within a day, it said, adding no sensitive data such as financial information was exposed.

T-Mobile, however, added that basic customer data — such as name, billing address, email and phone number — was breached and that it had begun notifying impacted customers. The company has more than 110 million subscribers.

A spokesperson for the Federal Communications Commission said the regulator had opened an investigation into the incident.

T-Mobile declined to comment on the investigation.