Data breach at JPMorgan Chase affected 83 million customers

USPA News - A data breach discovered at American banking giant JPMorgan Chase this summer compromised costumer information for approximately 76 million households and 7 million small businesses, the company said on Thursday, adding that it had not yet seen any evidence of fraud. A regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said contact information - which includes a customer`s name, address, phone number and email address - was compromised as a result of the breach.

Internal information relating to customer accounts was also taken. "There is no evidence that account information for such affected customers - account numbers, passwords, user IDs, dates of birth or Social Security numbers - was compromised during this attack," the SEC filing said. Patricia Wexler, a spokeswoman for the New York-based bank, added that the company was not aware of any fraud related to the breach. A statement posted on Chase.com and JPMorgan.com apologized for the data breach but said there was no need for users to change their passwords or account information. "We are very sorry that this happened and for any uncertainty this may cause you," the statement said. "As always, we recommend you use care with your accounts and information." JPMorgan Chase first disclosed the breach on August 28 after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said it was working with other law enforcement agencies to investigate recent cyber attacks against several financial institutions. Details about other affected banks - if any - have not yet been disclosed. According to the New York Times, attackers were able to burrow deep into JPMorgan`s computer systems, accessing the accounts of more than 90 servers, but much remains unknown about who was responsible for the breach, which began in June and was not discovered until July. Initial estimates had put the number of affected customer accounts at roughly a million. Wexler could not say whether JPMorgan clients outside the United States were also affected by the breach, which goes down as one of the largest on record with at least 83 million customers affected. JPMorgan President and CEO Jamie Dimon, talking about cyber security, said in an annual shareholder letter earlier this year that the bank will spend more than $250 million annually, and have about 1,000 people focused on cyber security, by the end of 2014. The financial institution also works with law enforcement. "Companies of our size unfortunately experience cyber attacks nearly every day. We have multiple layers of defense to counteract any threats and constantly monitor fraud levels," Wexler said on August 28.