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T-Mobile investigating claims of major hacking involving customer data
T-Mobile says it is investigating allegations of big data breaches that could affect its 100 million customers. According to the information, a message is seen at a secret forum on Sunday, August 15, came from someone claiming to have the personal data of 100 million people.
The message did not mention T-Mobile, but when a poster was touched on the newsletter Motherboard, it became clear that mobile phone customers were at the center of the alleged hacking. The figure of 100 million might be noted as it is almost equal to all T-Mobile customers.
The vendor told Motherboard that the information belongs to “T-Mobile USA” customers and contains everything from names, social security numbers, and phone numbers, to home addresses, driver’s license details, and International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers. The news website said it was able to verify the accuracy of the stolen data after reviewing the sample.
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The perpetrator is asking for 6 bitcoin – currently worth about $285,000 – in exchange for a social security information block and a driver’s license linked to T-Mobile’s 30 million customers.
T-Mobile has said in a statement that “we are confident that the entry point used to gain access has been closed, and we are continuing our deep technical review of the situation across our systems to identify the nature of any data that was illegally accessed.” The company has also pledged to “proactively communicate” with customers and stakeholders once more is understood, but that the investigation will “take some time”. T-Mobile is also not confirming the number of records affected or the validity of any statements made by others. This is a developing story and more information will likely be released in the future.
Those claiming to hold the data added that T-Mobile may have already found out about the hack as they can no longer access the company’s servers. But the company, which merged with Sprint last year in a $26 billion deal, will still publicly verify if its servers are violated, saying it only “knows the claims made in an undercover forum” and that “actively investigates legitimacy.” for more details when available.
If this breach proves to be true and affects such a large number of T-Mobile customers, it could be a major problem for the company as it seeks to restore its reputation following a similar collapse in recent years, which occurred recently at the end of 2020 with more than 200,000 affected customers.
Samsung’s latest foldable phones come with Google Messages by default. The company has now revealed the reason behind this move on Galaxy devices. Samsung says Google Messages replaced Messages to foster RCS adoption.
According to AndroidAuthority, a source explained Samsung’s decision to switch to Google Messages as the default messaging app. The recently released Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Z Fold 6 come with Google Messages with RCS enabled by default.
Looks like promoting Google Messages on Galaxy devices will boost RCS adoption. Samsung Messages isn’t already installed on newer phones. However, one’s stopping you from getting it on your Galaxy from the Galaxy Store.
While many apps support the RCS feature, Google Messages offer the best user experience. Making it a default messaging app is an effort to boost the adoption of RCS tech. Apple is also preparing to bring RCS chat functionality to iMessage for iPhones.
What Samsung source said:
- Even if messaging apps follow the RCS standard, the availability may be limited depending on which app the other party uses. That’s why we decided to make Google Messages the common messaging platform, allowing Galaxy users to communicate more freely. This also enables a messaging app to respond to changes of the RCS standard more quickly and efficiently.
Previously, Samsung devices launched in the US came with two messaging apps. This time, the company has removed the Samsung Messages. During the first setup, users are notified that Google Messages is the default messaging application.
Samsung SmartThings gained the international standard ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification. The company has officially announced this major development in its global connected living platform.
SmartThings received ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification for information security management systems. Certification reiterates that the SmartThings Cloud operates per international standards.
To be certified, a company has to meet the standard across a total of 123 detailed items, including policies for information security, access control for information assets, and incident response.
SmartThings receiving the ISO 27001 certification is the result of our sustained focus on the protection of information in a hyper-connected world with exponentially increasing intelligence.
Seungbum Choi, Executive Vice President and Head of Device Platform Center at Samsung Electronics said “this is just another step in our drive to fortify the platform’s security. We will continue to find new ways to ensure that SmartThings’ personalized services are provided even more safely.”
BSI Prez says that they have recognized that the operation capability and security level of Samsung SmartThings is excellent. It will further boost trust in the SmartThings platform and strengthen business competitiveness.
ISO 27001 is the leading global standard for ISMSs and was established by the International Organization for Standardization. It provides companies with guidance to manage the risks to information assets systematically and achieve information protection goals.
Samsung Health app integrated the Dr.diary (Doctor Diary) glycated hemoglobin feature. The blood sugar management platform announced the launch of its glycated hemoglobin estimation functionality on Samsung’s Health application.
According to ETNews, Dr.diary announced the integration of a glycated hemoglobin level feature in Samsung Health. Galaxy users will now be able to check the estimated glycated hemoglobin level provided by Doctor Diary.
To activate the feature, Health app users will have to permit certain conditions of data in the Blood Sugar service. It is worth noting that glycated hemoglobin is a key figure for diabetes diagnosis, which users will find worth using in the Health app.
Established in 2017, Dr.diary is a blood sugar management platform. It analyzes and predicts the changes in glycated hemoglobin using its own algorithm. Earlier this year, the firm secured a patent for “glycated hemoglobin estimation based on blood sugar data table.”
Song Je-yoon, CEO of Doctor Diary, said, “With our predicted glycated hemoglobin level prediction algorithm being installed in Samsung Health, more people will be able to recognize their glycated hemoglobin level and manage their health more efficiently.”
Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) is a standardized numerical value of the percentage of hemoglobin, such as hemoglobin, which has been glycated by glucose. Glycated hemoglobin reflects the average blood sugar level over the past 2-3 months.
Samsung Health (with Wear OS Galaxy Watch) users can conveniently check their estimated glycated hemoglobin level within the app and use this information to manage their blood sugar levels through diet and exercise.