Posted On December 15, 2022 Consumer Privacy & Data Breaches
December 15, 2022 – Lakeside Software, LLC filed notice of a data breach with the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation on December 13, 2022 after learning that confidential consumer information was leaked in a recent cyberattack. Based on the company’s official filing, the incident resulted in an unauthorized party gaining access to consumers’ names, Social Security numbers, addresses, phone numbers, health insurance information and bank account information. After confirming that consumer data was leaked, Lakeside began sending out data breach notification letters to all individuals who were impacted by the recent data security incident.
If you received a data breach notification, it is essential you understand what is at risk. The data breach lawyers at Console & Associates, P.C. are actively investigating the Lakeside data breach on behalf of people whose information was exposed. As a part of this investigation, we are providing free consultations to anyone affected by the breach who is interested in learning more about the risks of identity theft, what they can do to protect themselves, and what their legal options may be to obtain compensation from Lakeside Software, LLC.
The available information regarding the Lakeside Software breach comes from the company’s filing with the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. According to this source, on October 26, 2022, Lakeside Software discovered that an unauthorized party had created connections to some of the company’s computer systems. In response, Lakeside immediately disconnected its network, notified law enforcement, and began working with a data security firm to investigate the incident. Lakeside hoped to learn more about the nature and scope of the breach, and what, if any, consumer information was leaked as a result.
On November 21, 2022, Lakeside Software’s investigation confirmed that the unauthorized party was able to gain access to certain files on its network. Further, the investigation revealed that some of the compromised files contained confidential information belonging to certain individuals.
Upon discovering that sensitive consumer data was made available to an unauthorized party, Lakeside Software began to review the affected files to determine what information was compromised and which consumers were impacted. While the breached information varies depending on the individual, it may include your name, date of birth, Social Security number, local tax identification number, home address, phone number, health insurance identification number, and bank account information.
On December 13, 2022, Lakeside Software sent out data breach letters to all individuals whose information was compromised as a result of the recent data security incident. Currently, the total number of people impacted by the Lakeside Software data breach is not known; however, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s website indicates that there were 101 victims in Massachusetts alone.
Founded in 1997, Lakeside Software, LLC is a software company based out of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The company developed a digital experience management platform that helps customers measure, analyze, and optimize their employees’ digital experience and productivity. Lakeside also provides digital workplace optimization services, IT service delivery, and executive insight to those at the CIO level. Lakeside Software employs more than 163 people and generates approximately $38 million in annual revenue.
Data breaches affected more than 320 million consumers in 2021. That’s more than any year in history. And, unfortunately, the number of data breaches doesn’t appear to be going down—at least not significantly. According to the most recent reports, the number of data breaches increased by more than 50% year-over-year in both the third and fourth quarters of 2022. Given how often data breaches occur—as well as the potentially devastating consequences of identity theft—it is essential for all consumers to familiarize themselves with what they can do to protect themselves in the event their information is leaked in a data breach.
When thinking about a data breach from the hacker’s perspective, the goal is to steal consumer information which can be used to commit identity theft or be sold on the dark web. Unfortunately, there is not anything consumers can do to prevent a data breach; however, there are steps to take to reduce the risk of fraud and identity theft.
Below are a few steps to take after learning about a data breach; however, this is not an exhaustive list. For example, if a breach involved your financial account numbers or Social Security number, you might consider taking additional precautions.
After a company experiences a data breach, it will send you a data breach letter in the mail. In fact, under United States data breach laws, companies are required to notify victims anytime they experience a leak of consumer information. These letters explain the incident, what led up to it, what the company has done to prevent future breaches, and whether the company has received any reports of fraud or identity theft from other victims. Thus, the first thing to do is to carefully review the data breach letter to determine whether your information was leaked and, if so, what data was compromised.
After any data breach, regardless of what information was involved, it is essential that you change all passwords. While it’s tempting to change only those passwords of the accounts that were breached, don’t stop there; change all your passwords because hackers may be able to obtain additional information about you if they are able to get into your social media accounts or e-commerce accounts.
Hackers try to use stolen information quickly to avoid giving victims time to close their accounts or otherwise make it harder to commit fraud. However, hackers might need to obtain additional information before having enough data to commit fraud against a victim. In these situations, it may not be until weeks or months after a breach that hackers can use the stolen information. Often, by this point, consumers have let their guard down, and hackers can take advantage of that. Therefore, you will want to check up on your accounts periodically for a few months after the breach.
Credit monitoring is a fee-based service offered by many different companies. Credit monitoring alerts you to suspicious activity on your credit profile, such as if there are an abnormal amount of inquiries. Credit monitoring typically runs between $20 to $40 per month. However, companies will often offer victims of a data breach free credit monitoring for a period of time—usually between one to two years. Indeed, Lakeside Software is providing this service free of charge to victims for 24 months. Signing up for credit monitoring is free and provides you with an easy way to keep an eye on your credit profile; however, you may need to provide your credit card number, so watch out for automatic renewals. Also, taking a company up on its offer of free credit monitoring doesn’t affect your right to bring a data breach lawsuit against the company if it was negligent in maintaining your information.
Fraud alerts and credit freezes are free services offered by the three major credit bureaus. A fraud alert puts companies that pull your credit on notice that there is reason to believe that an unauthorized party may be attempting to use your information. A credit freeze offers additional protection by preventing any company from pulling your credit without your advance approval. The Identity Theft Resource Center has repeatedly explained that placing a credit freeze on your credit account is the single best way to prevent fraud after a data breach.
At Console & Associates, P.C., our consumer privacy lawyers monitor all security and data breaches to help affected consumers pursue their legal remedies. We offer free consultations to victims of data breaches and can explain your rights in clear, understandable terms so you can make an informed decision about how to proceed with your case. If you’ve been affected by the Lakeside data breach or any other data security incident, Console & Associates, P.C., will investigate your case at no charge and offer you thorough advice about how to most effectively proceed with your case. If you decide to bring a case, we only get paid if you do. If your claim is successful, any legal fees are either paid by the defendant or come out of the funds recovered from the defendant. If your claim doesn’t result in a recovery, you will pay nothing.
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