Posted On January 12, 2023 Consumer Privacy & Data Breaches
January 12, 2023 – L. Knife & Son filed a notice of a data breach with several attorney general offices on December 30, 2022 an unauthorized party access to the company’s computer network. According to the filing, an unauthorized party gained access to sensitive consumer information like first and last names, financial account information, and Social Security numbers. Once it was confirmed that there was a data leak, L. Knife & Son sent out notification letters to all 14,337 individuals affected by the data security breach.
The data breach lawyers at Console & Associates, P.C. are actively investigating the L. Knife & Son data breach. If you have received a breach notification and are interested in learning about the risks of identity theft and what you can do to protect yourself, we are offering free consultations where we can discuss your legal options for receiving compensation from L. Knife & Son.
L. Knife & Son is a company that distributes beverages under the Sheehan Family of Companies. It is one of several other companies that also operate under Sheehan, including Craft Massachusetts, Tri-Valley Beverage, Specialty Beverage, Craft New York, Union Beer Distributors, Legends, Ltd., and more. Originally founded in 1898 in Kingston, Massachusetts, L. Knife & Son now generates approximately $196 million in revenue annually and employs over 1,133 people.
According to filings with the Maine and Montana Attorney Generals, a security incident involving L. Knife & Son’s computer networks occurred on November 1, 2022. No further information is known about the details of the incident. What we do know is that the company ensured the security of its computer networks and launched an investigation. After the investigation was concluded, L. Knife & Son was able to confirm that there had been unauthorized access to its system between October 13, 2022 and October 19, 2022. Some confidential employee and consumer files had been removed.
After learning that the data was exposed to a third party, L. Knife & Son’s next step was to review the files and determine what information was made available. The types of information exposed were first and last names, financial account information, and Social Security numbers. While not consistent with each individual, any or all of the information listed may have been leaked due to the attack.
On December 30, 2022, L. Knife & Son sent out letters to all individuals whose information had been compromised. The Maine Attorney general’s office reports that the data breach affected 14,337 individuals.
If you receive a notice of a data breach from L. Knife & Son, it means your personal information was included in the data breach. Your name, Social Security number, and financial account information may now be in the hands of an unknown party. You may be thinking that your information is already out there, and it’s just a matter of time before you’re a victim of identity theft or fraud. While it’s true there’s nothing you can do about your information being exposed, there are steps you can take to prevent or mitigate damages caused by the leak.
Below is a list of things you should do as soon as you’ve been notified of the breach. This list is not comprehensive, and you may wish to take additional steps if your financial information has been leaked.
After a breach, companies are required to inform victims that their information was accessed. They will send a letter containing pertinent information. Make sure you read all the information carefully because it can give you details on the breach, what the company is doing to ensure this doesn’t happen in the future, and whether any affected individuals have reported identity theft or fraud.
Whether your financial information was compromised or not, it is a good idea to secure your accounts. Change your passwords and set up any security features available by the establishments, like multi-factor authentication. Hackers can obtain essential information about a victim through any online account.
After a data breach, companies often offer free credit monitoring to individuals whose information is compromised. Credit monitoring often costs a monthly fee, so take advantage of any free offers for as long as possible. Accepting credit monitoring services from companies does not disqualify you from pursuing a lawsuit against them if they are found negligent.
A credit freeze is a complimentary service provided by major credit bureaus. It will stop anyone from checking your credit without authorization from you. You might also want to consider a fraud alert, which will alert any companies checking your credit that someone may be looking to use your information for fraudulent purposes.
As mentioned above, you may be able to pursue a data breach lawsuit against L. Knife & Son if the company is found negligent in securing your confidential information and hold them liable for any financial damages. Pursuing a lawsuit against them can be beneficial in other ways as well. It might encourage the company to be more vigilant in its security measures and employee training to prevent another data breach from happening.
The consumer privacy lawyers at Console & Associates, P.C. help customers affected by data and security breaches pursue legal solutions by offering free consultations. By explaining your rights in clear, concise terms, we help you make an informed decision about your next steps. If you are a victim of the L. Knife & Son data breach, Console & Associates, P.C. will investigate at no charge to you and offer advice on how to proceed. If you decide to pursue a case, rest assured that we don’t get paid unless you do. If your claim is successful, legal fees are either paid out of the funds recovered or by the defendant. If your claim is not successful, you pay nothing.
To schedule your free consultation, just call (866) 778-5500 today or fill out our secure contact form.
Below is a portion of the letter sent out to affected individuals:
Dear [Redacted],
L. Knife & Son is committed to protecting the privacy and security of the information we maintain. We are writing to inform you of a data security incident that involved some of your information. This notice explains the incident, the measures we have taken, and some additional steps you may consider taking in response.
On November 1, 2022, we identified a network security incident. We immediately initiated an investigation, implemented measures to help secure our network, and notified law enforcement. The investigation determined that an unauthorized actor accessed files on our computer systems between October 13, 2022 and October 19, 2022, and took certain files from our network. We reviewed those files, and on December 8, 2022, we determined that certain documents contained your [Redacted].
We are offering a complimentary, two-year membership to Experian’s IdentityWorksSM. This product helps detect possible misuse of your information and provides you with identity protection support focused on immediate identification and resolution of identity theft. IdentityWorks is completely free to you and enrolling in this program will not hurt your credit score. For more information on IdentityWorks, including instructions on how to activate your complimentary two year membership, as well as some additional steps you can take to protect your information, please see the pages that follow this letter.
We regret any inconvenience or concern caused by this incident. To help prevent a similar incident from occurring in the future, we implemented additional measures to enhance the security of our network. If you have any questions, please call our dedicated help line at (855) 624-3337, Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time, excluding certain U.S. holidays.
