A court has found the mobile operator T-Mobile guilty of negligence that led to a significant cryptocurrency theft. The law firm Greenberg Glusker secured a fine of $33 million.
This is reported by Finway
The incident highlights the vulnerabilities in mobile networks, particularly due to SIM card swapping attacks. The arbitration process lasted 12 days, after which the judges determined that T-Mobile had systemic security flaws. In addition to the main fine, the company will also have to pay $6.5 million in court costs and interest, and the decision was upheld by the Los Angeles Superior Court.
Lawyers from Greenberg Glusker emphasized that mobile operators have long ignored the threat of SIM card swapping attacks, despite their prevalence. During the trial, it was proven that T-Mobile failed to take necessary measures to protect its customers, putting their funds and personal data at risk.
“The operator attempted to conceal details of the case by limiting access to arbitration materials. The public needs to be aware of the shortcomings in mobile network security,” the lawyers stated.
Malicious actors can use the SIM card swapping procedure to intercept the victim’s calls and SMS, granting them access to bank and cryptocurrency accounts. Legal experts believe that telecommunications companies should implement additional security mechanisms, yet they often fail to meet this requirement.
As a reminder, we recently reported on a new fraudulent scheme in the crypto sphere presented by the cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Deribit.