U.S. consulting agency Greylock McKinnon Associates (GMA) disclosed an information breach through which hackers stole as many as 341,650 Social Safety numbers.
The information breach was disclosed on Friday on Maine’s government website, the place the state posts knowledge breach notifications.
In its data breach notice sent by mail to affected victims, GMA stated it was hit by an unspecified cyberattack in Might 2023 and “promptly took steps to mitigate the incident.”
GMA gives financial and litigation help to corporations and U.S. authorities companies, together with the U.S. Division of Justice, bringing civil litigation. In response to its knowledge breach discover, GMA advised affected people that their private info “was obtained by the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) as a part of a civil litigation matter” supported by GMA.
The explanations and goal of the DOJ’s civil litigation aren’t identified. A spokesperson for the Justice Division didn’t reply to a request for remark.
GMA stated that people notified of the information breach are “not the subject of this investigation or the associated litigation matters,” and that the cyberattack “does not impact your current Medicare benefits or coverage.”
“We consulted with third-party cybersecurity specialists to assist with our response to the incident, and we notified law enforcement and the DOJ. We received confirmation of which individuals’ information was affected and obtained their contact addresses on February 7, 2024,” the agency wrote.
GMA advised victims that “your personal and Medicare information was likely affected in this incident,” which incorporates names, dates of start, house tackle, some medical info and medical insurance info, and Medicare declare numbers, which included Social Safety numbers.
It’s unclear why it took GMA 9 months to find out the extent of the breach and notify victims.
GMA, and the agency’s exterior authorized counsel, Linn Freedman of Robinson & Cole LLP, didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
