We have an update on the Desjardins data leak. The number of affected customers now totals the entire customer base of 4.2 million.
Back in June, reports surfaced that Quebec based insurance company, Desjardins, suffered from a data leak. The reports at the time suggested that a rogue employee walked out of the company with people’s information and sold it online. That employee has since been arrested. Of course, at the time, the total number affected totalled 2.7 million customers.
Now, something is happening with the story that is far too familiar for security experts: the affected number is now growing. The total number of affected customers totals 4.2 million. If you are wondering if that number is going to grow again, that might not happen simply because that represents every customer using the companies services. More from Huffington Post:
The new number represents the entirety of the Quebec-based banking co-operative’s membership.
President and CEO Guy Cormier told a news conference Friday those figures come after new information was provided by Quebec police on Thursday.
Last month, the provincial force questioned 17 people of interest and conducted multiple property searches as part of an investigation dubbed “Portier.”
The report says that no arrests have been made, but reports we’ve seen at the time suggest that Laval police actually did make one arrest. That arrest, of course, being the employee who made off with all that customer information in the first place. No charges were laid at the time, though, but he was fired.
For its part, reports suggest that Desjardins is contacting all affected members. Seeing how it is everyone, it might, in a way, make things easier since you are just, well, contacting everyone at this point.
One thing is for sure, it’s going to take a while for the company to get back on its feet after taking such a massive blow. There’s no telling what kind of litigation the company could face and the reputation damage it is no doubt suffering through all of this as well. No doubt the company is going to need to make changes internally not to mention having to work with police and investigators as they sort out all of this mess. Given that we are only now learning the actual scope of the leak itself, it’s going to be a while yet before things improve for the company.
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
