WASHINGTON—Data on roughly 44,000 FDIC customers was recently breached accidentally by a departing employee, The Washington Post reports.
According to a March 18 agency memo obtained by The Post, in February the employee downloaded the information to a personal storage device “inadvertently and without malicious intent.”
“The FDIC’s investigation does not indicate that any sensitive information has been disseminated or compromised,” stated the memo.
The Post stated that The FDIC document does not indicate what information was taken, but does say the former employee had legitimate access to it “for bank resolution and receivership purposes.”
An agency spokesperson said the employee has also signed an affidavit claiming the breached information was not used.
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), who chairs the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, sent the FDIC a letter asking for more details on the breach, which he called “troubling.”
“The potential for a breach is especially heightened when sensitive information for over 44,000 individuals is stored without proper security measures,” Smith said.