The Bank of New York Mellon is providing comprehensive fraud protection assistance to all individuals whose personal information was identified in a new forensic review of back-up data storage tapes lost by a third-party vendor earlier this year.
The Bank of New York Mellon disclosed in May the loss of back-up data storage tapes from BNY Mellon Shareowner Services and notified individuals whose personal information may have been included on the tapes. A subsequent re-examination by a forensic investigation firm of the analysis applied to the lost tapes led to the identification of additional individuals. The Company is in the process of notifying these individuals, though there continues to be no indication that the data has been accessed or misused in any way.
“We sincerely regret this incident occurred and are fully committed to offering comprehensive fraud protection assistance to all individuals identified in our recent forensic review of the data,” says Brian Rogan, chief risk officer at The Bank of New York Mellon. “We are actively engaged in a top-to-bottom review of our security policies and procedures – including retaining a leading independent consultant to conduct an objective analysis of our current practices – and we are taking the steps necessary to ensure we have industry-leading security measures in place across all of our businesses.”
While there has been no indication that the data on the lost tapes has been misused in any way, the Company is offering comprehensive fraud protection to all affected individuals as a precaution. This includes two years of free credit monitoring through Experian(R), a the credit monitoring services provider; identity theft insurance in the amount of $25,000 through Virginia Surety Company, Inc., with no deductible (provided to residents of states where permitted by local law); reimbursement for the cost of one placement and one removal of a credit freeze for each of the three national credit reporting bureaus; and maintaining dedicated toll-free numbers and adding additional call center representatives to respond to any consumer questions and concerns.
The Bank of New York Mellon has taken several new steps since May to continue enhancing its security policies and procedures, such as hiring an independent consultant to conduct an objective review of the Company’s policies, procedures and controls, as well as implementing a companywide program requiring that, when technically feasible, confidential data be transferred within the Company via direct encrypted electronic transmission in order to minimize the need for data storage tapes and their transport. The Company also has instituted new stringent standards for the transport of confidential data and is initiating a company-wide awareness and training program on data security for all employees.