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Who’s In Your Wallet? The Capital One Breach

Earlier this week, Capital One was the victim of the latest mega-breach, as information for 100 million of their American customers and six million of their Canadian customers was compromised.

An FBI investigation determined that stolen Capital One information was being stored on an online hosting platform and contained tens of thousands of American Social Security and bank account numbers, as well as a million Social Insurance Numbers (SINs) related to Canadian customers. The compromised data also contained contact information, credit limits, credit scores, account balances, payment history, and some transaction data for millions of customers. Thanks to the suspect inexplicably leaving their resume on the server containing the stolen data, authorities were able to quickly apprehend the individual. Authorities are investigating whether data from other companies may have also been compromised by the suspect, who is believed to have worked at a web hosting company that stored information for many businesses, other than Capital One.

Capital One will be providing notifications and free credit monitoring to affected individuals. To further protect yourself, consider the following steps:

  • Be cautious of any email or phone call related to this event, as cyber criminals will no doubt release a wave of spear phishing attacks to take advantage of the fear and uncertainty.
  • Monitor credit card statements closely and consider a credit freeze to prevent any unauthorized accounts being opened in your name.
  • Change your passwords on a regular basis and consider a password manager such as LastPass or 1Password.

For more information on how you can keep your data safe, contacts us at TRAC@citrincooperman.com or visit our website.

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