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Date: Mon, 6 Jun 2005 17:44:44 -0400 To: Philodox Clips List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> From: "R.A. Hettinga" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [Clips] Citigroup Says Data Lost On 3.9 Million Customers Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,,SB111807147451351811,00.html> The Wall Street Journal June 6, 2005 3:52 p.m. EDT MARKETS Citigroup Says Data Lost On 3.9 Million Customers A WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE NEWS ROUNDUP June 6, 2005 3:52 p.m. Citigroup Inc. said that computer tapes containing personal information on about 3.9 million customers were lost by United Parcel Service Inc. while in transit to a credit-reporting bureau. The tapes contained names, Social Security numbers, account numbers and payment history of CitiFinancial customers in the U.S., as well as clients with closed accounts from its CitiFinancial retail-services unit. The tapes didn't include any customer information from the New York financial-service giant's auto, mortgage or any other Citigroup business, or its CitiFinancial customers in Canada or Puerto Rico, the company said. "There is little risk of the accounts being compromised because customers have already received their loans, and no additional credit may be obtained from CitiFinancial without prior approval of our customers, either by initiating a new application or by providing positive proof of identification," said Kevin Kessinger, executive vice president of Citigroup's global consumer group, in a statement. Beginning in July, this data will be transmitted electronically in encrypted form, he said. "The likelihood of having the information compromised is very remote given the type of equipment that is required to read it," Debby Hopkins, Citigroup's chief operations and technology officer, said in an interview. "Additionally, the information is not in a format that an untrained eye would even know what to look for." The tapes were lost during a routine shipment from a data center in Weehawken, N.J., to a credit-reporting bureau in Texas. UPS confirmed that it had misplaced one box containing the tapes. "We sincerely regret that we've been unable to find this missing package," says Norman Black, a spokesman for UPS in Atlanta. "We have conducted an exhaustive search and there is no evidence or indication that it was stolen." Citigroup began a companywide effort last year to eliminate the need to physically ship data tapes. The bank similarly lost a batch of tapes last summer in Singapore when a vendor didn't follow their prescribed policy. Citigroup isn't alone. Time Warner Inc. and Ameritrade Holding Corp. both recently had to notify customers that their personal information had been lost in transit. Meanwhile, Bank of America Corp. and Wachovia Corp., along with other major banks, recently notified more than 100,000 customers that their accounts and personal information may be at risk after former bank employees' allegedly stole customers' private information. Separately, Bank of America also lost computer backup tapes containing names and Social Security numbers on about 1.2 million federal-government charge cards. In all, millions of individuals have been affected. Most organizations have been encouraging individuals to call credit-reporting agencies and put fraud alerts on their files, though some companies have offered free credit-report monitoring services for a limited time. Citigroup is offering affected customers free credit monitoring for 90 days. The latest breach highlights the vulnerability of corporate data-handling procedures. While some of the recent data losses have been the result of break-ins by computer hackers, the loss of computer tapes, as was the case with Bank of America and Time Warner, reveals gaps in trucking, air transport and other traditional logistical systems. -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' _______________________________________________ Clips mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.philodox.com/mailman/listinfo/clips --- end forwarded text -- ----------------- R. A. Hettinga <mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/> 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Cryptography Mailing List Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]