Pfizer, Inc. Data Breach (2007)

They say bad things often happen in threes…. The latest snafu reportedly affects an estimated 34,000 current and former Pfizer employees who, of course, are now at risk for identity theft, according to an Aug. 24 letter to employees obtained by The Detroit News. The breach may have caused employee names, Social Security numbers, addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers, bank account numbers, credit card info, signatures and other personal data to be publicly exposed. The breach occurred late last year when a Pfizer employee removed copies of confidential info from a Pfizer computer system without the drugmaker’s knowledge or approval, the paper reports. Pfizer didn’t become aware of the breach until July 10. The latest breach is likely the most serious, the News writes, because it appears the ex-employee ‘maliciously’ went after the data, according tod Judd Rousseau, chief operations officer of Identify Theft 911, an identity management company. “This appears to be an intentional theft which puts potential victims in the highest-risk category,” he says. “The perpetrator likely knew the value of this information.”