The Capital One data breach impacts more than 100 million consumers in the U.S.
On Tuesday, shares of Capital One fell more than 6% after the company revealed that a recent data breach exposed sensitive customer information. All in all, the data breach impacts more than 100 million U.S. consumers and 60 million Canadian consumers.
The breach occurred on July 19 and compromised more than 140,000 social security numbers and 80,000 bank account numbers. The data breach also exposed countless names, email addresses, home addresses, and credit scores in the process.
Ironically, the news of this data breach comes as Equifax is working out a settlement with consumers for its data breach two years earlier. The data breach cost Equifax around $650 million. Capital One’s data breach could cost the company somewhere between $100 and $150 million in 2019.
Details About the Data Breach
The data breach exposed the personal information of consumers who applied for Capital One cards between 2005 and 2019. However, Capital One did specify that credit card information and log-in credentials weren’t compromised.
The FBI already arrested a Seattle resident in connection with the data breach. The hacker is charged with computer fraud and abuse.
Capital One said the data breach happened due to a “specific configuration vulnerability in our infrastructure.” The hacker broke past the company’s firewall and accessed consumer data that was stored on Amazon Web Services.
The hacker was previously employed by Amazon Web Services. The company said it was not compromised during the data breach, but shares of Amazon fell slightly as well.
How Will This Affect Capital One?
After the news of the data breach broke, analysts immediately began speculating about how the hack will affect Capital One. Capital One is one of the largest credit card companies in the U.S., so this seems likely to mar its reputation.
Though the hacker was caught and arrested, it will still be a long process for Capital One to repair the damage from the breach. CEO Richard D. Fairbank released a statement saying, “I sincerely apologize for the understandable worry this incident must be causing those affected and I am committed to making it right.”
