The Incident: Lost Backup Tape During Transport
The tape held names, addresses, bank account details, and insurance policy information. Despite an extensive investigation, the tape was never recovered. The breach became public only a year later, further complicating Zurich's response.
Regulatory and Legal Consequences
The UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) fined Zurich £2.3 million in 2010, concluding that Zurich had failed to ensure adequate security measures were in place to protect sensitive customer information during transit. Zurich's failure to disclose the breach in a timely manner also damaged its reputation significantly.
Conclusion
Transporting sensitive data, especially across borders, requires a secure and traceable logistics process. NTERA believes that transporting fully functional data-containing devices is a big mistake — it opens up a slew of risks. NTERA offers on-site physical data destruction to ensure that data is unrecoverable at the time of disposal.