Extraordinary developments with the Bank of New York Mellon coming out and confirming that it lost magnetic tapes containing the personal details of 4.5 million people.

The incident happened three months ago but the information has only come out now with the state of Connecticut launching a legal investigation. The bank has agreed to provide free identity theft protections for majority depositors of institutions such as People's United Bank or shareholders of John hancock, Walt Disney Company and TD Bank Financial Group.

More details in this statement from the Connecticut Attorney General's Office.

For its part, the bank has come out with a statement saying that "there are no indications that the data on the lost tapes has been accessed or misused in any way".

What it can't say is whether the data is protected because the data has not been encrypted.

It has also announced that it's tightening up its procedures, including an undertaking to start encrypting the data. Talk about closing the barn door after the horse has bolted!