Brokerage firm fined $375,000 over breach

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced Monday it has fined Montana-based brokerage firm D.A. Davidson & Co. over a December 2007 breach that exposed the personal information of approximately 192,000 customers. The company's database was compromised via SQL injection, allowing attackers to steal the names and Social Security numbers of customers. Prior to the breach, D.A. Davidson did not have adequate safeguards, such as encryption, to protect customer information, FINRA said. A company spokeswoman told SCMagazineUS.com that no clients have fallen victim to ID theft, but the company settled to put the matter behind it. — AM