Cummings and Warren Ramp Up Investigation of Consumer Data Breaches Throughout U.S. Financial Sector
Washington, D.C. (Nov. 18, 2014)-In light of reports that more than 500
million records have been compromised due to data security breaches in
the U.S. financial sector over the past year, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings
and Senator Elizabeth Warren sent letters today to 16 banks, investment
firms, and other financial service providers requesting information about
recent data breaches and seeking detailed briefings from corporate IT
security officers.
"The increasing number of cyber-attacks and data breaches is unprecedented
and poses a clear and present danger to our nation's economic security,"
Cummings and Warren wrote. "Each successive cyber-attack and data
breach not only results in hefty costs and liabilities for businesses,
but exposes consumers to identity theft and other fraud, as well as a
host of other cyber-crimes. Your ability to protect consumers and safeguard
their personal information is central to earning and maintaining consumer
confidence in our economic system."
The Members cited press accounts reporting that law enforcement officials
believe the "U.S. financial sector is one of the most targeted in
the world," and that approximately "80% of hacking victims in
the business community didn't even realize they had been hacked until
they were told by investigators."
Multiple press accounts report that hackers have been breaching or attempting
to breach the data security systems of multiple financial firms as part
of a broad campaign of cyber-attacks, and the list of affected financial
entities continues to grow.
In letters to two companies, Citigroup and US Bank, Cummings and Warren
also requested information about how potential data breaches may have
affected their administration of government purchase and charge cards
under contracts with the General Services Administration.
Today's letters follow letters Cummings sent last week to retailers
and other companies, including Home Depot, Target, Community Health Systems,
Kmart, and USIS, as well as similar letters to the Postal Service and
State Department.
Click below to read the letters to the 16 financial institutions:
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ADP
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Bank of America
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Bank of NY Mellon
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Bank of the West
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Citigroup
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Deutsche Bank
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E-Trade
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Fidelity
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GE
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Goldman Sachs
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HSBC
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Morgan Stanley
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PNC
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Regions
•
US Bank
•
Wells Fargo