http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8O05AT80.htm The Associated Press March 20, 2007 A big shareholder of TJX Cos. has filed a lawsuit to obtain records showing how the retailer handled computer problems that exposed customer information to hackers. Arkansas Carpenters Pension Fund, which owns 4,500 shares of TJX stock, said the company rebuffed its request to see documents detailing the safeguards on the company's computer systems and how the company responded to the theft of customer data. The suit was filed Monday afternoon in Delaware's Court of Chancery, under a law that allows shareholders to sue to get access to corporate documents for certain purposes. Court papers state the Arkansas pension fund wants the records to see whether TJX's board has been doing its job properly in overseeing the company's handling of customer data. A spokeswoman for the Framingham, Mass.-based seller of off-price clothing and housewares wasn't immediately available to comment on the lawsuit. Exactly how much TJX customer data was exposed to thieves hasn't been revealed. However, TJX's public statements on its own probe indicate the trouble was more widespread than originally believed. Banks nationwide said they would reissue cards after TJX said in December that customer information had been stolen from its computer network. On Feb. 21, TJX issued updated findings based on its own investigation of unauthorized intrusions into its computer systems and said they go back as far as 2005. The company said the hacking stopped sometime after mid-December 2006, when it was discovered. Besides customer data, portions of credit and debit card transactions at U.S., Puerto Rican and Canadian stores from January 2003 through June 2004 were compromised, TJX said. Also compromised as far back as 2003 were drivers license numbers, with names and addresses, of customers who returned merchandise without a receipt, the company said in February. Shares of TJX rose 31 cents, or 1.2 percent, to close Tuesday at $26.54 on the New York Stock Exchange. _________________________________________ Visit the InfoSec News Security Bookstore http://www.shopinfosecnews.org
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