Just found this out, not from Scottrade, but a 3rd party. The Echeck system info was compromised http://www.scottrade.com/security/
And yet only a limited number of states will allow you to effectively "freeze" your credit report to the extent that no new credit can be issued on your behalf. It is a disgrace that the special interest groups have been allowed to trump the individual's ability to make this decision.
This is not the first major hack into Scottrade. Back in January I tried to report two VERY serious issues to Scottrade and they basically refused to fess up to the security problems. They did not fix the issues until after I informed them that I was going public about them. The two issues as reported are archived here: "Scottrader Application Exploit" http://seclists.org/lists/bugtraq/2005/Feb/0252.html "Scottrade Trade History Exploit" http://seclists.org/lists/bugtraq/2005/Feb/0254.html I only reported two vulnerabilities to Scottrade. I knew about a few others, but because Scottrade refused dialog with me and failed to act responsibly I decided not to disclose the issues to them. To sum it all up, this is _not_ the first time such a major compromise has happend with the company and after investigating their security a bit, I can also tell you this will not be the last. Good luck!
Quote from ben_1: The two issues as reported are archived here: "Scottrader Application Exploit" http://seclists.org/lists/bugtraq/2005/Feb/0252.html [within which is written: I believe enough time has elapsed that the security holes reported have now been corrected.] Have you confirmed that this is actually fixed? Time having elapsed does not seem relevant.
Started with online when it first became avlb. to rural America through Quick & Reilly and a few others. To my knowldge, there has never been a major hacking money loss affecting many account holders. Account security had better be Job #1 for the whole online brokerage industry because imo they are one big well publicized broad based theft from the end of the good life they have enjoyed all these years since the internet started. I now consider broker risk to exceed market risk exposure and I believe there are others out there that may well feel the same way. The reason why I feel this way is that I have non-brokerage related bank fiduciary accounts that have much more significant controls on them - especially as relates to wire withdrawal. Maybe this is all pie in the sky fear. If anyone from the industry wants to come forward on this, please do. Geo.