Tech Service Provider Denies Responsibility for MoneyGram Data Breach
Technology service provider Capgemini America asked a federal court Thursday to dismiss a privacy suit from MoneyGram Payment Systems that alleges Capgemini is responsible for a recent data breach. In the motion to dismiss, Capgemini said it lacked access to "the personal data of MoneyGram’s customers."
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In its motion, Capgemini said a service desk it operated "provided the most basic IT services" for the money transfer and payment services company's employees.
MoneyGram alleges Capgemini disclosed employee data to a criminal third party that used it to gain access to MoneyGram’s network. Accordingly, the exposure of MoneyGram’s security network is Capgemini’s fault. But "Capgemini never controlled or had access to MoneyGram’s customer’s personal data, which is now the subject of at least nine data breach class actions," the Capegemini document said.
The complaint in case 25-00498, filed in February in the U.S. District Court for Northern Texas, claims a Capgemini service desk analyst allowed an unauthorized third party -- who claimed to be various MoneyGram employees -- to reset employees’ user credentials and gain access to MoneyGram’s network. This caused the payment services company to stop money transfers for several days and led to the unauthorized access and acquisition of personal data belonging to customers, the complaint said.
Capgemini's court documents maintain it cannot be held responsible for the breach of customer personal data when it never had access to it. The complaint also alleges negligence claims, which the technology service provider said "fail as a matter of law because Texas law does not permit a tort claim when the parties’ relationship is governed by a contract."