Last week, American Family Insurance (“American Family”) confirmed that a cyber-attack was responsible for the recent IT issues the company has been experiencing. Given the recent nature of the incident, American Family is still in the process of investigating the incident. However, if American Family determines that consumer information was compromised as a result of the cyber-attack, it will be required to send breach notifications to all individuals whose information was affected.
If you receive a data breach notification from American Family Insurance, it is important that you understand what you are at risk for and what you can do about it. While American Family hasn’t confirmed whether consumer data was compromised, the company has acknowledged that it was the victim of a cyber attack. Typically, hackers conduct these attacks to steal confidential consumer information that can later be used to commit fraud, such as identity theft. A data breach attorney can help you learn more about how to protect yourself from becoming a victim of fraud or identity theft, as well as discuss your legal options if the company confirms an American Family Insurance data breach in the future. For more information, please read our recent article on this topic here.
Has American Family Insurance experienced a data breach?
At this time, American Family has not confirmed whether any consumer information was accessed or removed from the company’s IT network. In addition, the cyber attack on American Family Insurance has only recently been announced and more information is expected in the near future. However, BleepingComputer has recently received confirmation from an American Family representative that the company has indeed suffered a cyber attack.
According to a recent article by BleepingComputer, American Family Insurance recently detected unusual activity on a portion of its network. In response, the company quickly took steps to protect the data stored on the affected systems, including shutting down several business systems. American Family also engaged external cyber security experts to assist in its investigation.
Due to the extensive outages, American Family was unable to accept online payments and is instead informing customers that they can make a payment when the systems are back online without penalty.
American Family Insurance is still working through the recent cyber attack, which includes determining what, if any, consumer information was exposed as a result. If American Family determines that confidential consumer information was exposed to unauthorised access, American Family will be required to send breach notification letters to anyone affected by the recent data security incident. These letters will provide victims with a list of the information that was compromised.
