Unauthorized individuals breach CitiBank's financial data, gaining control of customer credit card information.
Citibank, one of the first financial institutions targeted by cyber criminals back in 1995, has recently experienced a network breach. The bank reported the incident to the Financial Times on Wednesday.
According to the bank, the breach affected around 1% of its Citi Account Online customers, with approximately 200,000 North American bank card holders' details being viewed during the incident. The breach did not compromise all user details, as was the case in the 1995 incident and the iPhone-based application issue last year.
Names, account numbers, and contact details of the affected customers were visible in the breach. However, birth dates, card expiration dates, and CCV codes were not disclosed.
In response to the breach, Citi has implemented enhanced procedures to prevent a similar event in the future. Further details about the security measures are being withheld for the customers' security.
It is important to note that the bank has a history of experiencing security issues. In 1995, hacker Vladimir Levin was charged for stealing $10 million from Citibank, an incident that involved the theft of customer details. Another significant incident occurred in 2009, when millions of dollars were allegedly stolen from Citibank by hackers of Russian origin, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. However, Citibank denied all knowledge of this incident.
Citi is contacting the impacted customers and has assured that it is taking the necessary steps to protect its customers' information. The bank has also emphasised its commitment to maintaining the highest levels of security to safeguard its customers' data.
While there is no publicly documented history of significant data breaches at Citibank with detailed timelines and extents of affected information available, other authoritative sources or dedicated databases on cybersecurity incidents may be required for comprehensive details.
[1] References: - Investigations into Citibank related to the Libor scandal but do not describe data breaches or compromised customer data. - The Libor scandal involved manipulative behavior connected to interest rate settings and included large fines and regulatory actions targeting multiple banks, including Citibank, but this is unrelated to data breaches or hacking incidents.
- The recent network breach at Citibank, a banking-and-insurance institution, not only affected Citi Account Online customers but also highlighted the importance of cybersecurity in the finance industry, especially technology-related safeguards.
- In light of the cybersecurity incident, Citibank has pledged to implement enhanced technology-driven measures to secure customer information, hoping to avoid the repeated history of security issues the banking-and-insurance conglomerate has faced in the past.
