About 6 million Canadians affected by Capital One data breach

WASHINGTON— Capital One, the Virginia-based bank with a credit card business, announced Monday that a hacker had accessed about 100 million credit card applications, and investigators say thousands of Social Security and bank account numbers were also taken.

The FBI has arrested a Seattle-area woman, Paige Thompson, on a charge of computer fraud and abuse, according to court records.

About 6 million individuals in Canada were also affected by the breach, Capital One said.

The hack appears to be one of the largest data breaches ever to hit a financial services firm. In 2017, the credit-reporting company Equifax disclosed that hackers had stolen the personal information of147 million people. Last week, it reached a $700-million settlement with U.S. regulators over that breach.

“While I am grateful that the perpetrator has been caught, I am deeply sorry for what has happened,” said Richard Fairbank, Capital One’s chair and chief executive. “I sincerely apologize for the understandable worry this incident must be causing those affected and I am committed to making it right.”

The hack is expected to cost the company between $100 million and $150 million in the near term, Capital One said.

Capital One emphasized that no credit card numbers or login credentials were compromised, nor was the vast majority of Social Security numbers on the affected applications.

It is unusual for a suspect to be apprehended so quickly in such a case, but that was apparently due to boasts made online.

Thompson previously worked at an unidentified cloud computing company that provided data services to Capital One, according to court papers.