Lost and found: DHL returns missing data tape

By SearchSecurity.com Staff 21 Dec 2005 | SearchSecurity.com

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A missing backup tape holding valuable data on 2 million mortgage customers has been found, but with the original airbill missing. Though it's unlikely that customer data was compromised, the company has urged affected customers to monitor their credit activity.

Reuters news agency reports delivery firm DHL International returned the missing tape on Tuesday to ABN AMRO Mortgage Group Inc., a part of Chicago-based LaSalle Bank Corp. The tape disappeared after it was picked up by a DHL carrier on Nov. 18 at ABN AMRO's Chicago data processing center. The tape, containing mortgage account information and Social Security numbers, was headed to a credit bureau in Texas.

"Although we have no reason to believe that the tape was compromised, we feel it is always good practice for consumers to monitor their credit activity on a regular basis," ABN AMBRO CEO Thomas Goldstein said in a prepared statement.

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The company has since abandoned transferring physical tapes to credit bureaus in favor of electronically sending encrypted files.

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