Wal-Mart pharmacy coding error breaches information of thousands: 4 things to know

From Feb. 15 to Feb. 18, a software coding error exposed prescription history and other information of thousands of Wal-Mart's online pharmacy customers, according to a Reuters report.

Here are four things to know about the data breach.

1. The breach affected less than 5,000 people. During the window the coding bug remained undiscovered, if any two customers of the affected group  logged in at the same time and may have had access to information on one another.

2. Compromised information included names, addresses, dates of birth and prescription history, according to the report. Social Security numbers, health insurance information and full credit and debit card information was not exposed.

3. The software bug was the result of migration of servers, rather than malicious intent.

4.  Wal-Mart is contacting the affected customers and offering identity protection services, according to the report. The company does not suspect any of the information was used inappropriately.

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