Data Breach Affects 650k Customers of 230 Retailers

By Robert McMillan

January 28, 2008 12:00 PM ET

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Computerworld - An unencrypted backup tape containing credit card information on customers of 230 U.S. retailers was discovered missing in October, the company responsible for the data confirmed earlier this month.

GE Money USA, which manages in-store credit programs for retailers, said the tape held credit card information on about 650,000 customers.

The General Electric Co. subsidiary said the tape contained the Social Security numbers of 150,000 of those customers.

A GE Money spokesman confirmed that J.C. Penney Co. was affected by the breach, but he declined to identify other retailers whose data was on the tape.

The spokesman said the tape was found to be missing from an Iron Mountain Inc. facility in October. "We were informed that one of the tapes could not be located. But at the same time, there was no record of it ever having been checked out," the spokesman said.

An Iron Mountain spokesman said that the firm regretted the incident, but he added that there is "zero evidence that the media has been obtained by unauthorized people and misused in any way."

GE Money has set up a toll-free number for customers and is offering free credit-monitoring services to those affected.

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