One of the biggest wireless carriers in the US, UScellular has disclosed a data breach that compromised their billing system.
One of the biggest wireless carriers in the US, UScellular has disclosed a data breach that compromised their billing system.
The company discovered unauthorized access to its billing system on December 12, 2021, and data of wireless customers containing personal information were accessed.
United States Cellular Corporation has over 4.9 million customers and is the fourth largest carrier in the United States.
“On December 13, 2021, UScellular detected a data security incident in which unauthorized individuals illegally accessed our billing system and gained access to wireless customer accounts that contain personal information. Unauthorized individuals attempted to leverage access to that information to fraudulently port numbers. Based on our investigation, we believe that the incident occurred on December 13-19, 2021,” said in the breach statement.
The exposed data includes customer name, address, PIN code, and cellular telephone number(s) and information about wireless services such as service plan, usage and billing statements.
The data breach impacted around 400 UScellular customers.
“Information in customer accounts include name, address, PIN code and cellular telephone number(s) as well as information about wireless services including service plan, usage and billing statements. Sensitive personal information, such as Social Security number and credit card information, is masked within the CRM system.”
Immediately after discovering the unauthorised access the company disconnected their infected system from the internet and took precautionary measures.
The company has also requested immediate removal of the fake website used by threat actors for the attack.
The company has reset login credentials of every impacted customer and changed the PIN and security question and answers of customers.
Impacted customers are advised to check for any suspicious activity or communication in their accounts and notify the carrier if any.
This is the second breach disclosed by UScellular within a year. Earlier in January 2021, the carrier disclosed a breach exposing personal information of their customers.
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