Two to three million customer records were stolen in a data breach affecting four major Japanese property insurance companies, business agency Kyodo News reported on August 27.
The leaked information from the four companies – Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co, Sompo Japan Insurance Inc, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co and Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Co – included customer names, insurance policy numbers, types of insurance, expiration dates and premium amounts.
The incident raised concerns about poor information management practices common in the industry and raised suspicions that some of the leaked data could have been used for commercial purposes.
The four companies that disclosed the leak in May are expected to report details to Japan’s financial watchdog within a week. The agency will review the reports to consider specific measures to prevent a recurrence of such major leaks.
The leaks follow a recent series of scandals that have exposed compliance problems in the industry, including insurance fraud by used-car chain Bigmotor Co and collusion on insurance premiums for corporate clients and government agencies.
The data breach involved independent agents, such as car dealers, that handle products from multiple insurance companies.
Insurance company employees working for independent agencies were found to be intentionally passing information about other insurers’ contracts to their own companies, possibly to gain insight into competitors’ sales trends.
Sompo Japan employees from nine or more agencies leaked data such as fire insurance contracts purchased from regional banks.
Numerous cases have also highlighted problems with information control within agencies. When agency headquarters sent emails containing information about contracts from a specific insurer to its offices, employees of other insurers were among the recipients.
Insurers are required to monitor the agencies’ activities, but they did not consider the leaks to be a problem and were unable to stop the practice.
Initially, 151 agencies were thought to have leaked information, but the number has now risen to 268 and is likely to be even higher.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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