Breach at New York Bank Exposes Millions to High Risks
According to data recently released Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, a storage company for a New York bank lost an unencrypted backup tape containing Social Security numbers and bank account information belonging to hundreds of thousands of Connecticut consumers and personal information of millions more nationwide.
NorwalkPlus.com reports that the Connecticut consumers were depositors and investors of People’s United Bank of Bridgeport, which gave Bank of New York Mellon the information to allow it to offer those consumers an investment opportunity.
Blumenthal urged Bank of New York Mellon, which lost the information in February, to provide affected consumers with credit monitoring and other identity theft protections, and to also provide them with full details on how the loss occurred.
“I am alarmed and deeply concerned by a recent and serious data breach at The Bank of New York Mellon (‘BNY’) involving the loss of computer backup tapes containing sensitive information of some 4.5 million consumers, including People’s United Bank account holders and shareowners,” Blumenthal said in his letter. “Several hundred thousand Connecticut citizens may be affected, and possibly more, by this loss of highly significant personal information.
