Mar 29, 2007, 11:47 GMT
Washington - At least 45.7 million customer credit and debit card numbers have been stolen from major US retailer TJX after the company's computer system was hacked, the company said Thursday.
The numbers were published in TJX's annual report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
It was 'the biggest breach of personal data ever reported,' The Boston Globe said in its online edition Thursday.
According to TJX, the theft of personal data happened over an 18- month period. The company on Thursday gave the first concrete figures relating to the computer system break-in which had already been made public in January.
Data from its computer system in Britain was also stolen, the retail giant said.
The stolen information related to transactions dating back to December 2002.
TJX owns a number of department-store and retail chains in the US, including T J Maxx, Marshall's and A J Wright, as well as Winners in Canada and T K Maxx in Britain and Ireland.
The company's profit in the last financial year was 776.8 million dollars on turnover of 17.4 billion dollars. Altogether, TJX owns some 2,466 shops.
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