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Frequently Asked Questions

5 Sep 2008

How was the data put at risk of compromise?

On February 27, BNY Mellon's third party data storage vendor, Archive Systems, Inc., reported that a metal box containing six magnetic tapes of backup data on BNY Mellon stock transactions for a number of clients was missing in transit to a storage facility.

When was SAIC initially informed of the loss?

BNY Mellon initially informed SAIC of the incident on March 11, 2008. BNY Mellon provided additional information to SAIC on August 28, 2008 after they received information from an outside forensic investigation firm.

What was on the tapes?

The tapes contained certain personal information including the shareholder's name, address, Social Security number or other U.S. tax identification number, stock account information, transaction activity and possibly bank account number.

How many SAIC stock accounts were involved and how will I know if I was affected?

BNY Mellon initially confirmed that records for 1,376 SAIC accounts were on the missing tapes. BNY Mellon began mailing letters to affected account holders Friday, March 21, 2008.

However, on August 28, 2008, BNY Mellon Shareowner Services provided further updates to SAIC. In these updates, BNY Mellon informed SAIC that the data loss was greater than first confirmed and that personal data for nearly all current and some former SAIC stock account holders who held stock after February 1, 2006, or who held stock options or restricted stock after January 1, 1993 may be at risk of compromise. BNY Mellon estimates that some 41,000 SAIC account holders are known to be affected. BNY Mellon said, however, it had no reason to believe the data had been accessed or improperly used.

Why did BNY Mellon raise the number of persons affected from their initial report in March 2008?

BNY Mellon said it raised the number of persons affected after receiving the report of an outside forensic investigation firm it hired to further investigate the matter. The forensic investigation took several months to complete.

When and how will I know if I am part of the new population affected by this incident?

On August 28, BNY Mellon began sending letters to affected account holders who had not been previously notified earlier this year. However, due to the size of the population affected, BNY Mellon is expecting the mailing of these letters to be completed by September 30, 2008. These letters inform the affected account holders that their name, address, Social Security Number or other U.S. tax identification number, stock account information, transaction activity and possibly bank account number may have been on the tapes.

If I receive a letter saying my information is at risk of compromise, what do I do?

The letter will explain your options. The letter contains an access code unique to each affected stockholder that entitles the stockholder to the free credit monitoring services BNY Mellon is providing. In order to activate the credit monitoring service, you should access the web site or toll-free telephone number found in the letter.

Is there reason to believe the information has been compromised?

BNY Mellon advises SAIC there is no reason at this time to believe the information has been accessed or misused.

I did not receive a letter; how can I confirm that my account is not among those at risk?

If you have not received a letter notifying you that your data is at risk of compromise but you wish to confirm the status of your information, BNY Mellon has established a special, toll-free number for SAIC stockholders at 877-278-3451. Customer service representatives are available Monday through Friday, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. ET.

To speak to a customer service representative, please stay on the line and disregard the automated prompts. After the second time of disregarding the prompts, you will be automatically connected to a customer service representative. Customer service representatives will be able to confirm if you were affected by the data breach and provide you a unique access code over the phone that entitles you to sign up for the free credit monitoring services.

Please do not call the regular BNY Mellon SAIC stock transaction number for information regarding this data security issue.

What is BNY Mellon doing for those whose information is at risk?

BNY Mellon is offering free credit monitoring for a 24-month period through ConsumerInfo.com, Inc., an Experian® Company. They will provide their Triple Alert℠ Credit Monitoring product, which includes daily monitoring of credit reports from three national credit reporting companies (Experian, Equifax® and TransUnion®), including email monitoring alerts of key changes to credit reports. Account holders must activate this service using the unique code found in the notification letter sent by BNY Mellon within 90 days from receiving the letter.

Credit monitoring services will not be provided automatically. BNY Mellon is also providing $25,000 worth of identity theft insurance (provided to residents of states where permitted by law), and reimbursement for the cost of one placement and one removal of a credit freeze for each of the three national credit reporting bureaus.

What if I suspect identity theft?

BNY Mellon is offering personal assistance from a fraud resolution representative in the event of identity theft. The Federal Trade Commission provides excellent general information on identity theft at its web site, Federal Trade Commission (http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/).

What is SAIC doing?

We continue to proactively engage with BNY Mellon to monitor its response and remediation of this incident. SAIC's chief privacy officer is closely working with BNY Mellon on behalf of SAIC stockholders, along with an SAIC task force made up of expert individuals who are monitoring this issue. SAIC's chief security officer has also visited the BNY Mellon Jersey City location to review proposed security remediation.

Will SAIC change service providers as a result of this incident?

SAIC has no plans to change service providers at this time. BNY Mellon is uniquely situated to support our current needs related to a dual class of securities in which one class is publicly traded and the other is not. BNY Mellon is also the only financial institution that can simultaneously support our transfer agent and stock plan administration business by providing stockholders, optionees, holders of restricted stock and ESPP participants with single-point access to both their public and non-publicly traded stock and incentive plan interests.

How do I move my stock to a brokerage account?

The first step is to identify a brokerage firm where you either hold an account now or where you will open a new account. You must have a brokerage account into which your shares can be moved. Individuals who hold SAIC, Inc. Class A preferred stock must convert their shares to SAIC, Inc. common stock before they can be moved to a brokerage account. Information on how to convert your stock to common, how to sell it or on the two different ways to convert and move your shares to a brokerage account is available on SAIC's Investor Relations web site.

I no longer have stock at BNY Mellon — why was I affected?

There could be a few reasons. First, the tapes that were identified as missing included transaction data for several months. If you disposed of all your stock or moved it to a broker during this period of time, your data would have been included in the backup files.

A second reason is that as a transfer agent, BNY Mellon has regulatory responsibilities to maintain certain stockholder data for a period of time after an account has gone inactive. It is possible that this data retention requirement caused your account data to be included in one of the archive tapes that is missing.

A third reason is due to historical data that may have been transferred to BNY Mellon's database at the time of conversion because it was required for financial reporting purposes.

How can I confirm what data was in my record?

BNY Mellon has confirmed that the data compromised for any account holder on the unaccounted-for archive tapes contained personally identifiable information including the shareholder's name, address, Social Security number, account information and transaction activity. Bank account information could have also been included if an affected stockholder had provided BNY Mellon with bank account information.

Should I change my bank account number?

If your account was affected and you believe you have provided BNY Mellon with your bank account information, you should consider changing your bank account number. Please keep in mind that BNY Mellon does not currently collect bank account information from SAIC stockholders.