Japan bank data stolen online

Disclaimer: This information comes from sources that cannot be verified. As such, make no assumptions about its completeness or accuracy. We endeavor to keep this information up to date as much as possible. Feel free to send comments/ updates to the Security News Editor.

Japan bank data stolen online
By Reuters
Special to CNET NEWS.COM
January 5, 1998, 9:35 a.m. PT

TOKYO--Cybercriminals rifled through confidential computer records of a major Japanese bank and stole information on customers' names, telephone numbers, addresses, and even birthdays, the bank said today.

Sakura Bank said data on up to 20,000 of its 15 million individual customers could have been stolen. It had confirmed that files on at least 37 were then leaked to a mailing-list vendor in Tokyo.

The data included customers' names, telephone numbers, and birthdays, a Sakura Bank spokesman said.

The thieves did not gain access to customer accounts, however, and no money was stolen, the spokesman said.

The data was likely to have been stolen when bank affiliate Sakura Information Systems changed the software for its computer system last year, the spokesman said.

He declined to give details of the change or the name of the parties involved in installing the new system.

The computer system was used for such purposes as managing customers' time deposits.

Sakura Bank had contacted the police on December 30 to urge them to launch a probe into the incident, the spokesman said.