CIMB reveals several magnetic tapes containing back-up data 'lost in transit', heightens security

KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Group Holdings Bhd (CIMB) today announced that several magnetic tapes containing back-up data were lost in transit during routine operations. Some of these tapes contain customer information of CIMB Bank and its subsidiaries.

The bank said following a thorough and ongoing assessment, there is currently no evidence that any of this information has been compromised.

"The tape data does not contain any authentication data such as PINs, passwords or credit card CVV numbers," CIMB said in a statement today.

It said in adopting a conservative approach to data protection and security, the bank is working with all the relevant authorities and taking all necessary measures to protect its customers.

"As these are back-up tapes, CIMB still has all customer information," it said.

In response to this incident, CIMB has heightened security measures across all channels, including temporarily suspending some services via its call centre such change of address, telephone number and/or email address for banking/credit cards; third party fund transfer or payment for customers without T-Pin; and T-Pin creation or requests.

The bank advised that whilst no action is required on the part of customers, CIMB recommends that customers be extra vigilant and when in doubt, refer only to official CIMB channels such as its website, call centre and branches.

“We take our responsibility to our customers very seriously and we are confident the measures we have put in place will maintain the safety of customer transactions.

"Although this was an isolated incident, we have reviewed and further strengthened our security and internal processes to ensure that we remove the possibility of it recurring,” said CIMB Group Holdings Bhd chief executive officer Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Aziz.

"We apologise for the inconvenience that our heightened security measures may cause to our customers in the interim.

"Know that we are working very closely with all relevant authorities to mitigate any risk arising from this incident," he said.

In a separate statement, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) said it is aware of the incident involving the loss of backup tapes in transit by CIMB.

BNM was assured by CIMB Bank that necessary precautionary measures and mitigation actions have been taken to manage any possible negative impact arising from the loss of the tapes.

Members of the public are advised to continue to be vigilant in safeguarding their personal information, it said.


By NST ONLINE - November 13, 2017 @ 8:48pm