Computerworld

Morgan Stanley fires employee who leaked sensitive client data

Clients have not suffered losses, the bank said
  • Jeremy Kirk (IDG News Service)
  • 06 January, 2015 12:39

Investment bank Morgan Stanley has fired an employee who briefly posted account names and numbers for 900 clients on the Internet.

Law enforcement has been contacted about the employee, who was not identified in a news release on Monday. Morgan Stanley officials couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

All told, the employee stole partial client information for 10 percent of its Wealth Management customers, a brokerage and investment advisory service for high net-worth people.

That data did not include account passwords or Social Security numbers, Morgan Stanley said. There is "no evidence of any economic loss to any client," it said.

The data for 900 customers was "briefly posted" by the employee on the Internet but was promptly removed. Morgan Stanley is contacting the affected customers.

Security experts have warned that employees are a threat to information security since they need access to sensitive data to do their jobs. But defending against rogue employees is difficult.

It has been suggested that the attack against Sony Pictures Entertainment may have been aided by an employee because of the vast amount of data that was released in December.

Send news tips and comments to jeremy_kirk@idg.com. Follow me on Twitter: @jeremy_kirk