An ex-employee of Morgan Stanley said he’s “sorry” for stealing client data which appeared on information-sharing site Pastebin last month.
Galen Marsh, a 30-year-old financial adviser, admitted downloading client data. However, in a phone interview with Businessweek, he said through his lawyer, Robert C. Gottlieb of Gottlieb & Gordon LLP, that he didn’t post the information online.
Gottlieb said that his client “is extremely sorry for his conduct,” but remains firm that Marsh isn’t the one who tried to sell the data online.
“He did not share any account information with anyone nor use it for any financial gain. He is devastated by what has occurred and is extremely sorry for his conduct,” said Gottlieb.
Marsh was fired from the company last week after stealing information from almost 350,000 clients. Of this number, 900 clients were detected to be related to the information posted online. After alerting the law enforcement regarding the breach, Morgan Stanley assured no evidence was found that shows client money has been stolen.
Though Social Security numbers and passwords weren’t included in the stolen information, the names and numbers of clients were compromised. The company already managed to take down the data online.
Regarded by some security experts to be the biggest data breach on a wealth management firm, Morgan Stanley has already enforced stricter access to its client database.
The company said in a statement, “Morgan Stanley takes extremely seriously its responsibility to safeguard client data, and is working with the appropriate authorities to conduct and conclude a thorough investigation of this incident.”
FBI is currently on the case and Morgan Stanley is on the process of notifying all the clients affected with the breach.
Marsh first joined the company in 2008 as a sales assistant and promoted as financial adviser last year.
