With recent news of hacked accounts including Paris Hilton's, T-Mobile has released a statement to the public regarding the ongoing criminal investigation, and steps to safeguard personal information.

T-Mobile cares greatly about protecting the security and privacy of our valued customers. We want to ensure our customers that protecting their information is a top priority for the company. Like many organizations, T-Mobile is very concerned by the growing phenomenon of personal data being illegally sought and distributed.

"We are aggressively investigating the illegal dissemination of information over the Internet of T-Mobile customers' personal data," said Sue Swenson, chief operating officer, T-Mobile USA, Inc.

T-Mobile is actively working with federal law enforcement agencies to investigate any criminal activity we uncover that impacts our customers, including vandalism, theft or exposing of personal data, and help bring those responsible to justice. In addition, the company will initiate a consumer education campaign designed to help inform customers on steps they can take to help secure their own personal data.

Along with the considerable resources T-Mobile has and will continue to dedicate to customer security, there are some specific actions we recommend customers take to help protect their mobile phone accounts and personal data.

- T-Mobile customers should ensure they utilize passwords and change them frequently to safeguard personal information in the following three areas:

- On my.t-mobile.com - the Web self-service tool.

- Attached to their account, when calling a Customer Service Representative.

- On their voicemail box.

- Be sure the password to access my.t-mobile.com has a combination of letters and numbers.

- Change passwords at least every 60 days; never give out passwords, even to friends or family; and memorize passwords.

- If a device is lost, or notice suspicious activity on an account, call T-Mobile immediately.