T-Mobile is now coming after 'clever hackers' who steal data

T-Mobile is now going after people who are using up more than their fair share of tethered data. CEO John Legere has his sights set on cutting off such users' unlimited 4G LTE service once caught.

Legere was not hesitant in lashing out about their unfair users who have been milking tethered data more than the amount that was legally allotted to them. He took to the T-Mobile Newsroom to point out that a small percentage of the carrier's 59 million subscribers have been utilising tricks just so they can go beyond their monthly data limit. Some were reportedly even so abusive that they have used up as much as 2 TB every month.

T-Mobile might be offering their clients unlimited data, but apparently, there are parameters to this deal. Despite the "unlimited" tag, there are limits to precisely how much high-speed data clients can use for tethering.

Tethering is a feature that allows the unit's owner to use the device's cellular connection as a mobile data hotspot. This way, Internet access can be shared to other people in the device's vicinity - ones that have the unit owner's password, anyway.

Once 7 GB of hotspot data have been used, the connection will be bumped down to low-speed Internet access. However, some of the carrier's users have utilised certain "apps that hide their tether usage" by "rooting their phones" and "writing codes to mask their activity." Through these techniques, T-Mobile will believe that all data is being used up by the client's mobile phone and not by tethered units.

By concealing the truth, many subscribers get to use generous amounts of high-speed Internet, without risks of being bumped down to a lower speed.

"These are not naive amateurs," Legere said, according to CNET. "They are clever hackers who are willfully stealing for their own selfish gain. I am not in this business to play data cop. But, we started this wireless revolution to change the industry for good and to fight for consumers. I will not let a few thieves ruin things for anyone else."

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