No wonder so many people use MySudo for safe telephony when the major carriers cannot protect their customer data.

That was exactly our thought when we read that the personal information of nearly 55 million current, former and prospective customers of T-Mobile US Inc. was caught in a mass data breach in August. 

The latest figures show around 13 million current postpaid customers, nearly 41 million former or prospective customers, and around 850,000 current prepaid customers had data stolen in the attack.

T-Mobile said in a statement that while there is no indication of customers’ financial and payment information being affected, some of the breached data includes customers’ first and last names, dates of birth, SSNs, driver’s license or ID information, phone numbers, and IMEI and IMSI information, the identifier numbers associated with a mobile phone. The carrier also confirmed that the 850,000 active T-Mobile prepaid customers had their names, phone numbers and account PINs stolen in the attack.

T-Mobile was reportedly alerted to the breach when the threat actor offered the records for sale on a hacking forum.

T-Mobile says it is still investigating how the attack occurred, has closed the access point the cybercriminals used to gain illegal entry to T-Mobile servers, and is offering support to affected customers.

Mobile customers caught in the breach will now have to stay vigilant to SIM swapping attacks, vishing or phone phishing and smishing scams.  

So it does beg the question, doesn’t it, of why a user would risk their highly sensitive personal information to major carriers when they can readily access private and secure telephony through MySudo, the world’s only all-in-one privacy app favored by privacy experts like Michael Bazzel and others?

If you’re a long time user of MySudo, you’ll know the features and benefits of telephony through MySudo. If you’re a newcomer, here are the Cliff notes:

1. The numbers are real, unique, working phone numbers in area codes or geographies you select. Numbers are currently available in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. You can use the Sudo phone number for voice calling or SMS messaging with anyone, even if they don’t have MySudo. Each phone number has customizable voicemail, ringtones, and contacts too. Private mobile contact discovery is coming soon.

2. You can get multiple numbers quickly and use them for short or long term activities. You can provision different phone numbers for each of your Sudo profiles which you might use for long-term activities like banking and short-term activities like home food deliveries.

3. You can mute the notifications of a number you no longer want. When you want calls and messages to a particular number (e.g. realtors), you maintain the number and always know the context of those incoming contacts. When you don’t want calls and messages (e.g. telemarketers), you can turn off notifications for that phone number or delete that particular Sudo.*

4. The MySudo plans are good value. Every user starts on SudoFree, but once you’ve seen how MySudo can work for you, you can sign up to a plan, which start from  0.99 USD a month. If you join the top SudoMax plan, you get nine different phone numbers, unlimited encrypted Sudo-to-Sudo messages, voice, and video communications plus unlimited Sudo-to-non Sudo SMS messages and call minutes.

5. The numbers disrupt the spammers and scammers. Spammers and scammers think they have your personally identifiable details, but they don’t—they have the details of one of your Sudo profiles. Your personal details are not at risk. 

6. The numbers give you a second chance at digital privacy. If you were hit by a data breach at T-Mobile or anywhere else, you can start over with MySudo.

* Deleting a phone number or its Sudo does not refund your entitlement for that phone number. For example, SudoMax plan provides nine phone numbers total lifetime in the account, as opposed to always allowing up to nine phone numbers concurrently. Once used, the only way to get another phone number is to purchase a line reset.

Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash