Citigroup targeted in latest customer data breach
Citigroup said June 9 that it recently discovered an unauthorized person hacked the files of about 1% of its Citi North America bank card accounts.
Some customer account information, such as names, account numbers and contact details, was accessed in the breach. However, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, card expiration dates and security codes were not accessed, said Sean Kevelighan, head of communications and public affairs for North American consumer banking at Citigroup.
Kevelighan added that the bank is contacting customers to inform them of the breach, and implementing enhanced security procedures. For security purposes, the financial institution will not disclose additional information about the incident, he said.
The Citigroup breach is the latest in a number of high-profile hacking incidents that have affected millions of consumers. Sony detected a mid-April breach into its customer database, where hackers accessed the personal information of about 100 million consumers, including the credit card information of 2.2 million members of the PlayStation Network and music service Qriocity. Epsilon detected a breach into its files in late March that compromised the names and email information of several clients' customer databases.
