Prudential Financial began the process of notifying more than 36,000 people last Friday about a data breach that occurred in early February 2024 .
See also: HPE: Investigating allegations of new data breach
The leak, initially revealed through a regulatory filing with the SEC in February, occurred on February 4 and was reportedly detected the next day.
During that period, Prudential revealed that the attackers had access to systems that included company management data and user data, as well as employee and partner accounts.
A week later, the Alphv/BlackCat ransomware group claimed responsibility for the data breach and listed Prudential Financial on its leak website. This group was also responsible for a major disruption to the US healthcare system last month after attacking Change Healthcare ’s systems and services .
According to a filing with the Maine Attorney General's Office published on March 29, Prudential Financial has now confirmed that a data breach involved the personal information of 36,545 people.
See also: France Travail: Data breach affects 43 million people
“Through our investigation, we determined that an unauthorized third party accessed our network on February 4, 2024 and removed a small amount of personal information from our systems,” the filing states.
“Companies are always likely to keep eye on really quick disclosures, given the financial impact they can have on them, and use all the ‘tricks’ they can to delay them,” commented Nick France, technology officer at Sectigo.
People affected by the Prudential Financial data breach are being notified of the incident via written notices. Among the information leaked are names or other personal identifiers combined with driver's license or social security numbers.
See also: Acer Philippines: Employee data breach
How can businesses protect their data?
Businesses can protect their data from a breach like the one at Prudential Financial by implementing strict security policies. This can include educating employees about information security risks and implementing best practices. In addition, businesses can use technologies such as cryptographic authentication and network protection to protect their data from a breach. Using intrusion detection software and intrusion protection systems can also help prevent data breaches. Businesses can also implement identity and access management policies, which restrict access to data to authorized personnel only. Finally, creating a data breach response plan can help businesses respond quickly and effectively in the event of a breach.
Source: infosecurity
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