In what can only be described as a puiblic relations disaster, Morgan Stanley has just admitted that an employee (former) had stolen partial client data for around 900 high net worth Wealth Management clients and briefly posted it on the internet. Overall, around 10% of all the accounts (as Bloomberg reports - 350,000 wealth-management clients) data was stolen. While social security numbers and bank account data was not released, we can only imagine the anxiety-ridden outflows the firm will suffer from this security breach.
- *MORGAN STANLEY SAYS DATA BRIEFLY POSTED ON THE INTERNET
- *MS: ABOUT 900 CLIENTS' ACCOUNT DATA AFFECTED INCL NAMES,NUMBERS
- *MORGAN STANLEY FIRES EMPLOYEE ACCUSED OF STEALING CLIENT DATA
- *MS: EMPLOYEE HAS BEEN TERMINATED, LAW ENFORCEMENT BEEN ADVISED
- *MORGAN STANLEY SAYS DATA BRIEFLY POSTED ON THE INTERNET
- *MS: DATA DOESN'T INCL PASSWORDS OR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS
Morgan Stanley (MS) fired an employee it said stole data, including account numbers, for as many as 350,000 wealth-management clients and posted some of the information online.
The bank alerted law enforcement and found no evidence that clients lost any money, New York-based Morgan Stanley said today in a statement. The firm said it detected account information for about 900 clients on an external website and “promptly” had it removed.
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The bank’s inquiry found the employee may have been seeking to sell the stolen information, though there was no evidence any third party received it, according to the person. The firm has disabled the application used to access the data, the person said.
The Comany's press release:
Morgan Stanley today began advising certain Wealth Management clients that an employee had stolen partial client data. The Wealth Management employee has been terminated, and law enforcement and regulatory authorities have been advised of the incident.
While there is no evidence of any economic loss to any client, it has been determined that certain account information of approximately 900 clients, including account names and numbers, was briefly posted on the Internet. Morgan Stanley detected this exposure and the information was promptly removed.
Overall, partial account information of up to 10 percent of all Wealth Management clients was stolen. The data stolen does not include account passwords or social security numbers. The Firm is taking the precaution of notifying all potentially affected clients and instituting enhanced security procedures including fraud monitoring on these accounts.
All impacted clients are in the process of being contacted by the Firm and their Financial Advisors. A dedicated information line also has been established at 855-398-6437 (U.S. and Canada) or 512-201-2186 (outside the U.S. and Canada).
Morgan Stanley takes extremely seriously its responsibility to safeguard client data, and is working with the appropriate authorities to conduct and conclude a thorough investigation of this incident.
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