Breach Clarity Data Breach Report: Week of March 15

Each week Breach Clarity, recently acquired by Sontiq, compiles a list of what it considers to be notable data breaches—those that are worth highlighting because of the increased intensity of the risk to personal information. The Breach Clarity score identifies the level of risk on a scale of 1 to 10—the higher the score, the more severe the breach and level of risk.

For many high-risk breaches, we recommend that victims freeze or lock their credit report. A credit report freeze is unique in that it can single-handedly slash consumers’ risk of fraudulently opened new credit/loan accounts – something that can’t be said for many other safeguards. Unfortunately, this can give an exaggerated importance to this measure. While most consumers who don’t expect to need a credit inquiry in the near future can benefit from locking or freezing their credit report, breaches create clusters of risk that go beyond any single fraud type. A breach that exposes victims’ Social Security numbers heightens their risk of fraudulently opened credit cards typically exposed, but also makes it much easier for fraudsters to gain access to their financial accounts, apply for government benefits, or take over a mobile phone account.

That’s what makes breach notifications that stop at credit monitoring or freezes so dangerous. Breach victims need to understand the breadth of identity safeguards available to them – many at no or low cost. Even beyond other core measures, like alerts and strong authentication, services like USPS informed delivery, IRS identity protection PINs, and secure e-commerce platforms can meaningfully protect consumers from a variety of identity risks. Knowing the top risks posed by a data breach can help victims prioritize which of these measures makes the most sense for them.

Breach Clarity’s Weekly Spotlighted Breaches

New breaches added: 44

PEI-Genesis, Inc.
BreachIQ Score – 10
Unauthorized access to an employee email account at PEI-Genesis exposed personal information contained in messages and attachments that passed through the account. The information exposed varied by victim and included Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, financial account information, credit and debit card information, login credentials, and more.

What should you do? Any time a breach exposes data that is this sensitive, victims should take the time to make sure that they have put essential protections in place across all aspects of their identity. This includes locking or freezing your credit report; using strong authentication on your bank accounts, email, and other important services; and making sure that you have set up alerts for suspicious activity on your accounts.

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Overseas Services Corporation
BreachIQ Score – 9

Unauthorized access to an employee email account at Overseas Services Corporation exposed personal information contained in messages and attachments that passed through the account. The information exposed varied by victim and included Social Security numbers, financial account information, credit and debit card numbers, and more.

What should you do? This breach carries a high risk of account takeover – unauthorized access to victims’ bank accounts. Setting up strong authentication, such as use of temporary passcodes at login, can protect your financial accounts. Victims should also review the alerts offered by their bank or credit union to ensure that they are notified of suspicious login attempts or transfers out of their bank accounts.

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Elara Caring
BreachIQ Score – 8
Unauthorized access to a number of employee email accounts at Elara Caring exposed patient and employee personal information contained in messages and attachments that passed through the accounts. The information exposed varied by victim and included Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers financial account information, login credentials, and more.

What should you do? Since the information stolen in this breach creates a high risk of fraudulently opened credit (loan accounts), safeguards like locking or freezing your credit are the best place to start. If you expect to need to have your credit account unlocked, enrolling in credit monitoring through the provider offered by the breached organization or through a free service can help keep you informed of potentially suspicious changes to your credit report.

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Woodcreek Provider Services, LLC (third-party Netgain Technology, LLC)
BreachIQ Score – 7

A ransomware attack against IT service provider Netgain Technology exposed data on Woodcreek Provider Services’ patients, healthcare providers, employees, and contractors. In ransomware attacks, the goal of the attack is typically to extort the infected organization into paying to regain access to their files, although some ransomware strains also take the encrypted files and send them to the group managing the malware. While it does not appear that Woodcreek Provider Services’ systems were directly compromised in the cyberattack, because Netgain processed sensitive personal information on behalf of the medical practice management company, the perpetrators were able to compromise Social Security numbers, financial account information, as well as a significant amount of sensitive medical records such as treatment histories and correspondence with patients.

What should you do? Since the information stolen in this breach creates a high risk of fraudulently opened credit (loan accounts), safeguards like locking or freezing your credit are the best place to start. If you expect to need to have your credit account unlocked, enrolling in credit monitoring through the provider offered by the breached organization or through a free service can help keep you informed of potentially suspicious changes to your credit report.

Exposed medical information can provide valuable background information on victims that is particularly useful for scammers. Victims of this breach should be on high alert for individuals contacting them claiming to be from their bank, insurance, healthcare provider, or other trusted organizations.  If you receive a suspicious call or email, you should end the call and contact the organization directly.

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About the Breach Clarity Score

Breach Clarity, recently acquired by Sontiq, created an algorithm that deeply analyzes and assigns every publicly reported data breach a Breach Clarity score, most often from 1 to 10. The higher the score, the more severe. (In rare and extreme cases, the score can exceed 10.)

The idea for the Breach Clarity score came from data breach expert Jim Van Dyke, who realized the public should be able to access the same analysis he used as an expert witness to discern data breach risks in the country’s biggest data breach cases. Breach Clarity’s artificial intelligence algorithm simulates that advanced, objective analysis and is available to anyone as a free tool in the fight against identity fraud and cybercrime. The score, risks and recommended action for any publicly reported data breach is available at Breach Clarity.

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Kyle Marchini

Kyle Marchini is a product manager at Breach Clarity, where he oversees the development and implementation of data breach intelligence solutions for financial institutions, identity security providers and other organizational partners. Prior to his work at Breach Clarity, Kyle was a Senior Analyst for Fraud Management at research-based advisory firm Javelin Strategy & Research. He deeply studied both fraud management and consumer behavior, directing some of the industry’s most widely-cited research on identity fraud. His work has been cited on topics ranging from the impact of fraud and breaches on consumers’ banking relationships to the role of emerging technologies such as behavioral analytics in mitigating fraud risk.

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