HSBC Server Stolen, With Customer Data

The server thefts are getting out of hand. The latest incident didn't involve a data center, but involved an HSBC server in Hong Kong that contained transaction records for 159,000 customer accounts. The bank said it had lost track of the server during renovation work at a Kwun Tong district branch in east Kowloon on April 26. Police are investigating and say the server was stolen.

The data stored on the server included account numbers, customer names, transaction amounts and transaction types, but not any customer PINS, passwords or user IDs, the company said in a statement. "The server is protected by multiple layers of security. The risk of data leakage and fraudulent transactions resulting from the loss of the server is deemed to be low," the statement added.

Let's hope so, as the downside could be more serious than Peter Gabriel's web site being offline for a couple days.