Verizon data breach exposes millions of customers' account data

We’re not talking about T-Mobile this time

When it comes to telecom companies and consumer data breaches, you’ll most likely have seen T-Mobile in the headlines way too many times in recent years. The self-titled Un-carrier has been attacked time and again with disastrous results. But now, the carrier (and its customers) won’t be alone in victimhood this year — newly-released intelligence alleges millions of Verizon subscribers have had their information leaked out into the open internet.

The assessment comes from SafetyDetectives which picked up on a Verizon database posted to an open forum this January. Entries contained within date between sometime in 2021 and January 2022.

Analysis indicates approximately 7.5 million wireless subscribers have had some data points exposed including what kind of devices they had connected to Verizon service, what rewards they were signed up for, and what auxiliary subscription services like Apple Music, Disney+, YouTube TV, or Verizon Cloud they were signed up for. Each entry also contained a hash-obscured customer ID — potentially using a SHA256 key as the original forum post notes. The dump also contains customer ID hashes, first names, usage and speed metrics, router specifications, and contract statuses of about 1.5 million home internet subscribers. Besides the first names, it seems no unencrypted personally identifiable information has leaked, but the exposure of those hashes still presents a threat if the right key or keys are found.

Verizon was notified by SafetyDetectives’s research team on February 8. The company has yet to respond on this matter. We’ve reached out for comment and will let you know if we hear back.

Big Red had a more concrete security scare back in 2017 (via BankInfoSecurity) when personally identifiable information from about 6 million wireless accounts was mishandled. The company apologized, stating no data was lost or stolen and that the incident was the responsibility of an outside vendor.

Conclusion on Verizon data breach exposes millions of customers’ account data

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