Taiwan’s CTBC Bank fined US$134,000

Penalty was for accidentally leaking personal information.

The error by CTBC Bank, one of Taiwan's top financial institutions, affected some 33,000 of its e-banking customers.

It allowed Internet users to view confidential data intended for CTBC Bank staff only for an undisclosed period of time in May, said the Financial Supervisory Commission, the financial sector regulator.

FSC said CTBC failed to install a system check that would have alerted it to the fact that the information was accessible to non-employees. CTBC Bank discovered the breach only after some of its online banking customers contacted the bank, saying they were receiving unsolicited calls from marketing companies.

The bank has since communicated with the affected customers and there have been no reports of financial losses as a result of the security breach, claim bank officials.

There have been similar incidents at the bank but it is the first time that it has been fined, they said. CTBC Bank has since proposed measures to improve its information system in order to better protect personal data, the officials said without giving details.

CTBC Bank was formerly known as Chinatrust Commercial Bank.