Capital One Latest to Be Caught in Data Breach, Affecting 100M Consumers

Capital One Bank, headquartered in Mc Lean, Virginia, revealed a massive data breach in a news release on 29 July 2019. The bank says it does not appear that the hacker had used the stolen information for fraudulent purposes, but investigators will continue to look into it.

A hacker was able to gain access to Capital One's systems and compromised the data of more than 100 million people.

The alleged hacker in question, Paige Thompson, was arrested the day the news release was published. FBI agents arrested Thompson in Seattle. She faces a federal charge of computer fraud and abuse. The FBI says Thompson appeared to brag about the hack online, which helped lead investigators to her.

Capital One explained that the data breach impacted more than 100 million credit card applications in the United States and another 6 million in Canada. It’s also estimated that approximately 140,000 Social Security numbers were compromised. The bank account numbers of about 80,000 customers were also put at risk.

In a news release, Capital One explained that the “largest category of information accessed was information on consumers and small businesses as of the time they applied for one of our credit card products from 2005 through early 2019. This information included personal information Capital One routinely collects at the time it receives credit card applications, including names, addresses, zip codes/postal codes, phone numbers, email addresses, dates of birth, and self-reported income.”

Capital One’s CEO, Richard Fairbank, added, “While I am grateful that the perpetrator has been caught, I am deeply sorry for what has happened. I sincerely apologize for the understandable worry this incident must be causing those affected and I am committed to making it right.”