T-Mobile has been a part of headlines due to the hacking of its data multiple times. The company was expected to take preventive measures to protect the data of its customers but it seems T-Mobile failed to do so as a powerful US committee that scrutinizes foreign investment (CFIUS) for national security risks fined T-Mobile $60 million.
According to US officials, this fine is imposed on the company for failing to prevent and report unauthorized access to sensitive data. This is related to the violation of a mitigation agreement that T-Mobile signed with the panel as part of its $23 billion accusation of US-based Sprint Corp in 2020.
This unauthorized access to sensitive data occurred in years 2020 and 2021. According to reports, T-Mobile said in a statement that it experienced technical issues during its post-merger integration with Sprint that affected “information shared from a small number of law enforcement information requests.” It stressed that the data never left the law enforcement community, was reported “promptly” and was “quickly addressed.”
This is a rare case when CFIUS has revealed the name of a company for violation disputes which might be alarming for other companies to fulfill their contractual obligations. The size of this fine and the company’s decision to reveal the name of the company publically shows that the US committee is taking a more muscular approach to enforcement as it seeks to deter future violations.
