: Morgan Stanley paying $6.5 million fine for not erasing personal information on computers it sold

New York Attorney General Letitia James and a coalition of five attorneys general have reached a $6.5 million settlement with Morgan Stanley for allegedly “compromising the personal information of millions of customers nationwide.” The bank did not decommission its computers and erase unencrypted data in computers that were later auctioned, James said in a Thursday statement. New York’s share of the settlement is $1.66 million. Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, New Jersey, and Vermont will also receive payments. Morgan Stanley has been required to strengthen its data security measures. The breach had been reported earlier. “We have previously notified all potentially impacted clients regarding these matters, which occurred several years ago, and are pleased to have resolved this related investigation,” a Morgan Stanley spokesperson said in an email to MarketWatch. Morgan Stanley’s stock was up 0.7% on Friday. The stock has fallen by 5.7% in 2023, compared to a 17.6% increase by the S&P 500 SPX.

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