Bellevue The American telecom subsidiary T-Mobile US wants to settle user lawsuits after a major hacker attack with a payment of half a billion dollars. As part of the deal, $ 350 million (343 million euros) is to be channeled into a fund for plaintiffs of US clients, according to the agreement published at the weekend. A further $ 150 million is to be spent this year and next year on improving cybersecurity.
According to court documents, 76.6 million US residents were identified as victims of last year’s online attack. The captured user data included, among other things, names and telephone numbers.
As is customary in such cases, the agreement expressly states that it does not constitute an admission of guilt by T-Mobile US. After the cyberattack, T-Mobile US was accused in class actions of insufficient protection of user data. Several dozen lawsuits have been filed in Missouri.
The deal has yet to be approved by the competent judge in the US state of Missouri. The company believes this could happen in December – but appeal proceedings could still cause delays, it said.
