BankRI customer information stolen along with laptop

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

Forwarded from: William Knowles <wk () c4i org>

http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,88443,00.html

By Lucas Mearian 
DECEMBER 19, 2003 
COMPUTERWORLD 

Bank Rhode Island's CEO said today that her IT department plans to
install encryption and fraud-detection software on computers after a
laptop containing the names, addresses and Social Security numbers of
about 43,000 customers was stolen from its principal data-processing
provider, Fiserv Inc.

"We are making certain what limited information is on [the laptops] is
encrypted. We don't think there's any sensitive information on them.  
But we're acting in an abundance of caution with respect to those
laptops," BankRI President and CEO Merrill Sherman said.

The theft of the laptop from Fiserv also prompted BankRI to install
fraud-detection software on computers at its Providence, R.I.,
headquarters and branch offices, Sherman said.

"This has reinforced heightened scrutiny around security. We're pretty
comfortable with our policies and procedures," said Sherman, adding
that she is also comfortable with measures Fiserv is taking to ensure
that customer data theft doesn't happen again.

Les Muma, president and CEO of Brookfield, Wis.-based Fiserv, said the
data on the laptop was password-protected but not encoded. Muma said
the theft was a result of a single employee not following company
policy regarding the storage of unencrypted data on laptops. The data
was being used in a test scenario.

"Our internal policies are damn tight. It was a terrible mistake, and
the individual has been reprimanded," Muma said, adding that law
enforcement authorities investigating the crime are confident that it
was simply a petty theft and the thief was unaware of the data.

The FBI, the U.S. Secret Service and local police agencies are all
involved in the investigation, he said. "We keep hoping the PC will
turn up, but odds are it's been fenced for money."

Sherman said that the laptop didn't contain personal identification
numbers, account passwords, debit or ATM card information, or other
financial data, and that fewer than 100 of its customers' account
numbers were on the computer's hard drive.

BankRI, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bancorp Rhode Island Inc., has
$800 million in deposits in 13 branches. The bank sent out letters to
customers who could be affected by the theft, telling them that there
is no risk to their bank accounts and giving them a hot line number to
call if they discover any identify theft.

Jerry Silva, a senior analyst at TowerGroup in Needham, Mass., said he
wasn't surprised that sensitive customer information was contained on
a laptop or that it was stolen, because more enterprises are trusting
mission-critical data to third-party outsourcers and they haven't
stopped to consider security issues around that decision.

Silva said banks must begin thinking about data security in the same
way the semiconductor industry treats cleanliness around the making of
chips. In that industry, concentric rings of cleanliness become more
stringent as people come closer to the room where silicone wafers are
actually turned into chips.

"Banking and ATM networks are very sensitive production resources.  
It's not the same as someone attacking your Outlook server," he said.  
"The bottom line is that we have to stop blaming Microsoft and the
technology itself. Things are just open out there. Even a high
schooler can program something at home and have it run on a bank's
networks."

According to TowerGroup, identity theft accounts for more than $1
billion a year in losses to banks.

Silva said sensitive data should always be encrypted, whether in
transit or at rest. Another alterative for banks is to take an
auditing approach to third-party outsourcers, Silva said. That means
discovering for themselves just how secure an outsourcer's procedures
are.

"It's another case where technology has gotten ahead of the mind-set.  
If nothing else, you don't want the customer of a bank to think their
information is running around on a laptop," Silva said.


 
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