TOKYO (TR) – Prudential Life Insurance announced on Monday a major security breach, revealing that a former sales employee illicitly removed and subsequently lost the personal information of 1,570 customers, reports Jiji Press (Sep. 14).
The leaked data included sensitive client details such as phone numbers, home addresses, places of employment, and contract statuses, the company said.
According to the insurer, the former employee, who was stationed at the Tama branch, illicitly took documents containing the personal data outside the office while still employed. The ex-staffer continued to hold onto the materials even after resigning in March.
The glaring security lapse only came to light in June when a member of the public found the lost documents and alerted the company.
An internal investigation further revealed that the former employee had also saved customer contact details on a personal smartphone.
Prudential stated that it has since recovered all physical documents in the former employee’s possession and deleted the contact data from the personal device. The company claims there is currently no evidence of secondary damage or third-party misuse of the leaked information.
“We sincerely apologize for causing a great deal of trouble and concern,” the company said in a statement.
