Notice of Data Breach

We are providing notice of a data breach involving the Law Office of Peter S. Stern (“Peter Stern”) that may have compromised certain individual’s personal information.

In January 2023, Peter Stern detected suspicious activity within its business email environment. Mr. Stern immediately secured the email environment, and launched a thorough investigation. The investigation was performed with the help of independent IT security and forensic specialists to determine the scope and extent of the potential unauthorized access to Mr. Stern’s systems and any personal information.

As a result of this incident, the investigation determined an unauthorized third party may have accessed certain emails containing personal information, including full name, mailing address, date of birth, user name and password, financial account information, driver’s license number, state identification card number, health insurance information, license plate number, Medicare/Medicaid number, passport number or other government issued identification number, and/or medical information. Notably, the types of information affected were different for each individual, and not every individual had all of the above-listed elements exposed.

While the investigation found no evidence that any information has been specifically misused to date, Mr. Stern is mailing letters to potentially involved individuals with details about the incident and providing resources they can use to help protect their information. Mr. Stern is also offering potentially involved individuals access to free credit monitoring and identity theft protection services through Cyberscout, a leading identity protection company.

Individuals should refer to the notice they received in the mail regarding steps they can take to protect themselves. As a precautionary measure, potentially impacted individuals should remain vigilant to protect against fraud and/or identity theft by, among other things, reviewing their financial account statements and monitoring free credit reports. If individuals detect any suspicious activity on an account, they should promptly notify the institution or company with which the account is maintained. Individuals should also promptly report any fraudulent activity or any suspected identity theft to proper law enforcement authorities, including the police and their state’s attorney general.  Individuals may also wish to review the tips provided by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) on fraud alerts, free security/credit freezes and steps that they can take to avoid identity theft.  For more information and to contact the FTC, please visit www.identitytheft.gov or call 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338).  Individuals may also contact the FTC at: Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580.   

Mr. Stern is providing a dedicated toll-free call center for potentially affected individuals who have questions, want to enroll in credit monitoring and identity theft protection services, or who want to learn additional steps to protect their information. To contact the call center, please call 1-800-405-6108, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET, or log on to https://bfs.cyberscout.com/activate.

Mr. Stern takes seriously its responsibility to protect the privacy of the information in its care, and understands the frustration, concern, and inconvenience this incident may have caused. To help mitigate the possibility of a similar incident from occurring again, Mr. Stern has implemented additional security measures, revised its policies and procedures relating to the security of its systems and servers, and revised how the organization stores and manages data.