Hackers get access to 200,000 bank card holders of Citigroup in North America
June 9, 2011‐ US
Hackers are reported to have accessed basic contact information of about 200,000 bank card holders of Citigroup in North America. Citi is reported to have had knowledge of this ‘sometime in May’ 2011 itself. However, hackers couldn’t lay hands on other critical data of the cardholders including date of birth, social security numbers, card expiration dates and CVV card security code.
Citi is contacting individual customers whose data is compromised. Names of customers, account numbers and contact information, including email addresses are reported to be viewed by the hacker. The bank has tightened the security process.
Unlike Sony, Citi hasn’t neither made a public announcement of the breach nor did it speak announce to the press. And this is exactly what is making banking customers advocacy group angry. They say customers are ought to know when critical banking information about them was compromised. Citi made the information about the breach on Thursday June 9, 2011. And the delay in its disclosing this to the customers is likely to affect its reputation. The bank however attributes this delay for a proper investigation. Sadly the investigation is still going on and Citi is still to ascertain the hackers identity and location information.
Only recently did Citigroup Inc, in its financial document filings, reported that it is the largest credit card company worldwide with 21.2 million in North America itself. The May 2011 attack is about 1% of its customers data.
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