[ISN] Web worker stole 100,000 users' details

From: InfoSec News (alerts@private)
Date: Tue Aug 21 2007 - 23:13:49 PDT


http://www.contractoruk.com/news/003412.html

Aug 22, 2007

A Cable & Wireless employee was yesterday identified to Contractor UK as 
having stolen the personal details of 100,000 broadband customers who 
used the popular Bulldog service.

Having teamed up with Bulldog’s owner, Pipex, C&W said it is pursuing 
the worker with an injunction to stop “any further use” of the data, 
which includes users’ credit card details.

But in a statement, C&W said there is currently “no evidence” that the 
worker, who has now been sacked by the company, has used any of the 
credit card numbers for identity fraud.

The employee has been identified as Seemab Zafar. Her ex-employer is 
chasing her through the High Court for more than £300,000 in damages, 
after he she stole a laptop loaded with the customer data.

A spokesperson for Cable & Wireless, which filed the injunction, said 
yesterday: “We now believe that customer details were stolen from us by 
an employee who went on a business trip to Pakistan on our behalf in 
2005.

“The employee did not return as planned from the business trip and their 
employment by Cable & Wireless Access was terminated as a result.”

Since the theft, a very small number of Bulldog customers have 
reportedly complained to C&W that they are now victims to unsolicited 
callers. The telco believes these calls were placed using details from 
the stolen laptop.

But speaking yesterday, the company said it also believes that its legal 
offensive, which is currently underway, may have led to “all copies” of 
the customer data being destroyed.

Cable & Wireless said: “Make no mistake; we will take every possible 
course of action available to us to bring this matter to a suitable 
conclusion and to ensure the protection of Bulldog customers.”

The telco’s revenue in the first half of 2006/07 was primarily generated 
through residential sales relating to the customer base of Bulldog. It 
bought the internet company in 2004, before it sold the business to 
Pipex for £12million in September 2006.

© Copyright ContractorUK.com



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