Security News > 2011 > May > BofA Breach: 'A Big, Scary Story'
http://www.bankinfosecurity.com/articles.php?art_id=3673 By Tracy Kitten Managing Editor Bank Info Security May 25, 2011 An internal breach at U.S. financial giant Bank of America shows how some corporations do not focus enough attention on mitigating internal fraud risks. According to news reports, a BofA employee with access to accountholder information allegedly leaked personally identifiable information such as names, addresses, Social Security numbers, phone numbers, bank account numbers, driver's license numbers, birth dates, e-mail addresses, family names, PINs and account balances to a ring of criminals. With that information, the fraudsters reportedly hijacked e-mail addresses, cell phone numbers and possibly more, keeping consumers in the dark about new accounts and checks that had been ordered in their names. Some 300 BofA customers in California and other Western states have reportedly had their accounts hit, and 95 suspects linked to the breach were arrested by the Secret Service in Feb. BofA says it detected the fraud a year ago, but only recently began notifying affected customers of the breach. "As we communicated to impacted customers, this situation involved a now former associate who provided customer information to people outside the bank, who then used the information to commit fraud against our customers," says BofA spokeswoman Colleen Haggerty. "Keeping customer information secure and confidential is one of our most important responsibilities, and Bank of America sincerely apologizes for this incident, and regrets any inconvenience it may cause our customers. We work hard to prevent fraud, and our customers who experience fraud on their accounts related to this incident will be reimbursed if they report it promptly to us." [...] ___________________________________________________________ Tegatai Managed Colocation: Four Provider Blended Tier-1 Bandwidth, Fortinet Universal Threat Management, Natural Disaster Avoidance, Always-On Power Delivery Network, Cisco Switches, SAS 70 Type II Datacenter. Find peace of mind, Defend your Critical Infrastructure. http://www.tegataiphoenix.com/