Citigroup Breached by Hackers

Adding to what is already shaping up to be one of the most active years ever for security hacks and breaches, Citigroup announced yesterday that hackers had gained access to their network and were able to obtain personal information for close to 200,000 Citigroup customers based in North America.

According to an article by Andy Ryan at Forbes, Citi kept news of the attack quiet for more than a month, and only publically revealed details of the breach after the Financial Times asked Citi about the attacks. Reuters has reported that only customer names, contact information, account numbers and email addresses were accessed, and that more sensitive customer information -- like credit card security codes, birth dates, and social security numbers were not accessed.

Citigroup hasn't provided any further details about how the attack occurred, but as a precautionary measure Citigroup customers might want to keep a close eye on their credit cards and financial accounts, adopt a secure password, and keep tabs on the latest news about the hack from Citigroup.

This latest breach adds yet another high-profile attack to the roster of security breaches this year, ranging from the RSA phishing attack, the Lockheed-Martin breach, and the PlayStation Network hack, and many more. According to another Reuters report, the recent spate of attacks has also led the FDIC to begin development of new security rules and guidance for banks that would improve bank account security and authentication practices.

Does this latest security breach mean that it's finally time to rethink how we all approach cybersecurity? Feel free to add a comment to this blog post or start up a discussion on Twitter.

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