BRIEF: Nationwide reaches settlement in 2012 data breach

Aug. 11--TALLAHASSEE -- Attorney General Pam Bondi, 31 other state attorneys general and the District of Columbia have announced a $5.5 million settlement reached with Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company and its subsidiary, Allied Property and Casualty Insurance Company, over an October 2012 data breach.

The breach resulted in the loss of 1.27 million consumers' personal information, including Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, credit scoring information and other data. Nationwide collected this personal information to provide insurance quotes to consumers applying for insurance. The company's alleged failure to apply a critical security patch led to the loss of the personal information.

The settlement requires Nationwide to update security practices and to ensure the timely application of patches and other updates to security software. Nationwide also must hire a technology officer responsible for monitoring and managing software and application security updates, among other steps.

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