The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), part of the US Department of the Treasury, has (via Reuters) the largest fine ever against T-Mobile, because the network provider failed to prevent and report unauthorized access to sensitive data.
The $60 million fine relates to T-Mobile’s breach of an agreement to mitigate damages it suffered in its $23 billion acquisition of Sprint in 2020.
The multi-billion dollar fine was imposed to punish the company for data breaches that occurred in 2020 and 2021.
T-Mobile was fined for data leaks four years ago
The fine relates not only to the occurrence of the data breaches, but also to T-Mobile’s delay in reporting them, which CFIUS said hampered T-Mobile’s ability to address potential national security risks.
T-Mobile blamed the breaches on technical glitches during its integration with Sprint’s network. The company, majority owned by Germany’s Deutsche Telekom, stressed that the technical issues only affected data shared in response to a small number of law enforcement requests.
The network provider claimed the issues were reported “in a timely manner” and resolved quickly.
However, the unprecedented size of the fine and the decision to make details public underscore the Committee’s emphasis on enforcement. The $60 million fine now serves as a stark warning to other companies about the importance of complying with regulations and obligations.
In addition, CFIUS has increased pressure in recent years and has imposed more fines than before.
TechRadar Pro has asked T-Mobile for comment on the fine, but the company has not yet responded.
