Significant breach of trust

Om cites a devastating report from Security Focus of major security breach at T-Mobile USA. It's quizzical as to why T-Mobile never issued any public warning, even though it apparently knew of the intrusion as long ago as July of last year. Perhaps its hands were tied by law enforcement, who can override the requirement to report if the ongoing criminal investigation is likely to be compromised in the process. Whatever happened, the backlash to past customer data leaks at Yahoo! Japan make me feel a bit concerned about the near-term reputational issues for T-Mobile as this story circulates in coming days. First quarter net adds could well suffer.