New Hampshire-based Lincoln Financial has stated that a system of shared passwords may have exposed the private data of 1.2 million customers.

"[The] company learned of the issue on Aug. 17, after a federal regulator was tipped off by an unnamed source," writes Computerworld's Robert McMillan. "The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority was given a username and password combination that let anyone access Lincoln's portfolio information system."

"After hiring a forensic investigator, Lincoln discovered that six shared usernames and passwords were created, starting back in 2002 to help staffers with administration and customer support duties," McMillan writes.

Click here to read the Computerworld article.