2.3 Million Consumer Records Misappropriated from Certegy and Sold
Approximately 99,000 of the Misused Records Contained Credit Card Information
It seems you can't go a day anymore without hearing about some sort of data security breach. With that said, Fidelity recently announced a data security breach that could adequately be described as "the granddaddy of them all" (as ABC Sports Commentator Keith Jackson used to so beautifully portray The Rose Bowl). In a July 3rd press release, Fidelity announced that a senior database administrator for Certegy (a division of Fidelity National Information Services, Inc.) stole and sold approximately 2.3 million consumer records including personal information like names, addresses, telephone numbers and even bank accounts in most of the cases. The consumer records were apparently sold to a data broker, who then turned around and sold some of the records to direct marketing organizations. Certegy's President Renz Nichols said that there is no reason to think that the theft resulted in any fraudulent activity or damage to the consumer, but have fun trying to tell that to those consumers who must now be even more conscientious of identity theft.
The press release added that Certegy would personally notify all affected consumers; a process that is sure to take some time with more than 2 million people affected. The company is also taking immediate action to create fraud watch procedures for financial institutions, leaving many to wonder why such procedures weren't taken before this crisis!