Federal Reserve Bank Data Breach (2011)

Brian McCarthy, 31, a former supervisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, recently pled guilty to theft of property for stealing 71 computer files containing confidential information relating to the bank's responsibility to assess and monitor its credit risk exposure. McCarthy was a senior credit analyst at the bank from 2009 to 2010, and became a supervisor in the bank's Statistical Support Group in 2011. The theft occurred on October 5, 2011, McCarthy's last day of employment at the bank. He attempted to download approximately 300 computer files onto a personal USB drive, and successfully downloaded 71 files after taking steps to circumvent the bank's information security systems.