Zurich Insurance fined £2.3m over customers' data loss

[security curmudgeon <jericho () attrition org>]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11070217

 24 August 2010 Last updated at 09:43 ET
Zurich Insurance fined £2.3m over customers' data loss

The UK operation of Zurich Insurance has been fined £2.27m by the 
Financial Services Authority (FSA) for losing personal details of 46,000 
customers.

It is the highest fine levied on a single firm for data security failings.

Margaret Cole, the FSA's director of enforcement and financial crime, 
said: "Zurich UK let its customers down badly."

Stephen Lewis, chief executive of Zurich UK, said: "This incident was 
unacceptable."

The data on policyholders, including in some cases bank account and credit 
card information, went missing in August 2008.

However, Zurich did not become aware of the loss until a year later, when 
it then began notifying customers.

The information went missing during a routine transfer to a data storage 
centre in South Africa.

[..]

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