A Maine-based supermarket chain on Monday reported a data intrusion into its computer network that has put some 4.2 million customer credit and debit card accounts at risk, according to the company and press accounts.
No personal information, such as names or addresses, was accessed, said Ronald Hodge, chief executive of Hannaford Bros. in a letter apologizing to customers. "The stolen data was limited to credit and debit card numbers and expiration dates, and was illegally accessed from our computer systems during transmission of card authorization," he said.
Hodge added that the intrusion affected customers at Hannaford stores, Sweetbay stores in Florida and certain independently owned retail locations in the Northeast that carry Hannaford products. "We sincerely regret this intrusion into our systems, which we believe, are among the strongest in the industry," he wrote.
Of the credit card accounts exposed, 1,800 cases have been reported so far, the Associated Press reported citing a Hannaford executive. The data breach began on December 7 and wasn't contained until March 10, the same executive told the AP. Hodge said Hannaford is cooperating with credit and debit card issuers to ensure affected customers are protected. The company is working with law enforcement to help identify those responsible.
The breach of 4.2 million accounts is significant, but nothing compared with the 45.7 million accounts compromised over a two-year period in a data breach of customer records at TJX Companies, the operator of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls retail chains.
IBM has acknowledged that in early 2007 a third-party contractor misplaced a tape containing the personal information of current and former IBM employees. The tape was lost in transit to its Armonk, N.Y, headquarters some time in February. Recently, IBM was in the news as one of the companies helping to investigate the massive data breach at TJX.
Big Blue started informing affected employees last week, and as compensation the company is offering one year of free credit monitoring. The exact number of affected employees is not known but it's thought to include personnel who worked for the company between 1995 and today.
In yet another instance of laptop theft potentially endangering personal data, Kaiser Permanente Colorado is notifying some 38,000 members of a possible breach of their private health information.
The information was located on a laptop stolen from the personal car of a national Kaiser Permanente employee in California, reports the Rocky Mountain News and other media outlets.
Information on the computer included names, member ID numbers, dates of birth, ages, gender and provider/physician information from two Kaiser Permanente Colorado medical offices: Skyline and Southwest.
It's believed the laptop was stolen for its street value and not the information on the computer, according to media sources, which add that no Social Security information was involved.
Other recent cases of stolen laptops containing personal data include one in which notebooks with payroll details for London's Metropolitan Police were swiped. In another high-profile instance, a laptop containing information on millions of U.S. veterans was taken from the home of a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs worker.
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