New York class action claims firm says data breach impacted about 140,000 individuals

Arden Claims Services, a New York-based full-service class action litigation claims administration firm, said it experienced a data security incident that compromised the sensitive personal information of almost 140,000 individuals.

 

In a filing with the Office of Maine Attorney General, Arden Claims Service said that on October 17, it identified unusual activity related to an email account. The company immediately launched an investigation, with assistance from external cyber security experts, to determine the nature and scope of the incident.

 

“The investigation determined that an unknown actor acquired certain data without authorisation on or about October 3, 2023,” reads the notice. The firm did not disclose further details on how the attack occurred or whether it had identified the perpetrator behind the incident.

 

While the firm did not mention the nature of the compromised data, a filing with the Maine state regulator in January states that names and other personal identifiers along with Social Security Numbers were compromised during the incident. Also, in the January 17 filing, ACS said that it had identified 50,032 individuals impacted by the data security incident. On August 19, the company said that at least 138,890 people were affected as a result of the data breach.

 

ACS said it took immediate steps to secure the affected systems and notified law enforcement authorities about the security incident.

 

“We implemented additional security measures to further protect our network and minimise the risk of future incidents. We also reported this incident to the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” the company added.

 

ACS 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 IDX to all affected individuals.