Posted On February 3, 2022 Consumer Privacy & Data Breaches
February 3, 2022 – Recently, SI Group Inc. announced that the personal information of approximately 7,241 individuals was compromised in a data breach. Our data breach attorneys are investigating this cybersecurity incident to determine if consumers could have the grounds for a data breach class action lawsuit.
The company recently reported that, between August 9, 2021, and August 14, 2021, an unauthorized party gained access to certain files on its servers. A subsequent investigation revealed that the files may have contained the following information:
According to reports, SI Group Inc. does not know which individuals’ information was actually accessed and cannot confirm that the unauthorized party retained any of the information.
However, anyone in receipt of a SI Group Inc. data breach notification letter may now face an increased risk of identity theft and other financial losses. Attorneys are now investigating this recent cybersecurity incident to determine whether the company took the necessary steps to keep your data secure and whether those impacted by the breach can pursue a data breach class action lawsuit.
A data breach occurs when a hacker or other unauthorized party secretly gains access to sensitive consumer information stored on a company’s servers through some kind of cyberattack. Once a hacker obtains consumer data, they may use the information to commit identity theft or for other criminal purposes. Sometimes hackers will sell the data they obtain through a cyberattack to the highest bidder.
No one can tell with certainty why a hacker targeted your data in a data breach or what they plan to do with it, but the fact that your sensitive information is in the hands of an unauthorized party puts you at a greater risk of identity theft.
As consumers, we all provide personal data to companies for a variety of reasons. We trust these companies to protect our private data and keep this information secure. Unfortunately, data breaches happen frequently.
Attorneys are investigating data events like this security breach to determine the legal rights of consumers who trusted corporations with their sensitive information. Often, hackers target companies that rely on outdated or otherwise inadequate data-security measures. If it is determined that SI Group Inc. did, in fact, fail to properly protect consumers’ data in some way, the individuals affected may be eligible to pursue compensation for their financial losses.
If you received a data breach letter from the company that experienced a security incident, it means that an unauthorized person—likely a criminal—may have accessed, viewed, and retained your personal information. While the company cannot know why the third party sought out your information and what they plan to do with it, the situation justifies a certain level of precaution on your part.
Below are a few ways to protect yourself from identity theft and the other possible financial risks that can stem from a data breach:
To protect and preserve their legal rights, it is highly recommended that individuals who received notice that their data may have been compromised immediately reach out to an experienced data breach attorney.
Companies have an ethical and legal duty to protect consumers’ personal information. While developing and implementing a comprehensive and up-to-date data-security system is costly, this is a necessary cost of doing business in an environment where cyberattacks and data breaches are common.
Data breach laws are complex, and just because your information may have been accessed while in SI Group Inc.’s care doesn’t necessarily make this company legally responsible. However, if a company fails to take appropriate actions to protect consumers’ sensitive information, it may face liability through a data breach class action lawsuit.
If you received a data breach notification letter, it is important that you not only protect yourself from possible fraud but also preserve your legal rights by speaking to a data breach attorney. Consumer privacy lawyers are undertaking investigations in legal matters involving all types of data breaches, ransomware attacks, and cyberattacks on a no-win, no-fee basis.
Find a copy of the data breach letter here.
NOTICE OF DATA BREACH
Dear [RECIPIENT],
We are writing to inform you of an incident that may have affected your personal information.
What Happened?
On August 14, 2021, SI Group, Inc. became the victim of a ransomware attack, which infected the Company’s systems and may have resulted in the unauthorized access or theft of files containing personal information. Upon discovery, we took immediate steps to contain the threat and engaged leading third-party forensic experts to investigate the incident and assist with our remediation efforts. We also notified federal law enforcement
authorities of the incident, and are cooperating with their investigatory efforts.
Our internal investigation has found that, between August 9, 2021, and August 14, 2021, the threat actor infiltrated our system and was able access and remove data from file servers on our corporate networks, which contained personal information relating to certain Company employees (both current and former), as well as personal information of contractors, beneficiaries, and other third parties.
We regret the impacts that this incident may have on you, and we are sending this letter to inform you of what we know and provide some options to minimize risk to yourself.
What Information Was Involved?
The exact personal information accessed varies by individual, but we have determined that the types of personal information impacted include name, address, date of birth, and other sensitive data elements, such as a social security number, driver’s license number, passport number, or health or insurance information. Please know that not all of this information was disclosed in each instance, and your impacted personal information may be a subset of these categories.
What We Are Doing.
We take the security of your personal information very seriously. As soon as we discovered the incident, we isolated our networks and launched a forensic investigation, contacted law enforcement, and took steps to remediate the incident. In response to this attack, we have enhanced our security and monitoring processes and taken other measures to minimize the risk of a similar incidents in the future.
In addition, we have arranged to offer you credit monitoring, identity theft protection, and Dark Web monitoring services for a period of two years, at no cost to you, through Equifax. It is possible that this incident impacted both adults and minors, which may have been identified as beneficiaries, for example. As a result, instructions
on how to activate these services for both adults and minors are included in the attached Equifax Enrollment Instructions. Please note that if you have already enrolled in this service pursuant to a previous notice from the Company, then you are already covered by the plan and no further action is required.
What You Can Do.
In addition to enrolling in the complimentary credit monitoring, we have established a dedicated call center through Epiq Global to assist you with answering any questions you may have. You may contact the call center toll-free at 800-983-8781 between 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, except holidays.
Finally, we encourage you to carefully review your accounts and your credit reports to ensure that all of your account activity is valid. You should promptly report any questionable charges to the organization with which the account is maintained.
