Cyber attack on The Pension Specialists impacted over 70,000 individuals

American financial services provider, The Pension Specialists, said the data security incident it suffered last year compromised the sensitive personal information of more than 70,000 individuals.

 

Based in Machesney Park, Illinois, The Pension Specialists is an independent retirement plan third party administrator. It offers its clients competitive retirement plan tax consulting and compliance solutions.

 

In a data security incident notice filed with the Office of Maine Attorney General, TPS said that on February 24, it experienced a major network disruption and quickly launched an investigation, with assistance from external cyber security experts, to determine the nature and scope of the incident.

 

“We determined that certain files may have been accessed or acquired without authorisation between February 18, 2024 and February 20, 2024,” reads the notice.

 

The compromised data included names and other personal identifiers along with Social Security numbers. The filing with the main state regulator also revealed that at least 71,443 individuals were affected by the incident.

“As soon as we discovered this incident, we implemented measures to enhance security and minimise the risk of a similar incident occurring in the future,” the company added.

 

While the financial service provider found no evidence of the compromise data being misused, it has advised all affected individuals to regularly monitor their credit reports, account and benefit statements and report any suspicious activity to law enforcement authorities, including the police and state attorney general.

 

It has also offered one year of complimentary identity protection and credit monitoring services through Kroll to all affected individuals.

 

At the time of publishing, no known hacker group has claimed responsibility for the cyber attack on the healthcare technology provider. The company also did not share details on who is behind the attack or if it has paid a ransom.