A Million Rich People’s Personal Info Sold for US$65 on eBay

I don’t know how many times people have to sell other people’s personal information on eBay for everyone to learn about security, but apparently it’s not enough yet: an ex-employee sold his company-provided computer on the auction site for US$65, carrying banking data belonging to more than a million people. The new twist this time: these people are dirty rich, high-street bank customers of companies like American Express. Thankfully for them, the guy who bought the computer was not Robin Hood.

The hard drive in the computer contained, completely in the open, mobile phone numbers, bank accounts, mother’s maiden names (used for security), and signatures, which gives access to billions of dollars. It belonged to British company called Graphic Data, which apparently safeguards information for financial organisations.

Fortunately for NatWest, the Royal Bank of Scotland, and American Express, the computer was bought by a good guy, an IT manager from Oxford, England, called Andrew Chapman. [The Independent]