On October 9, 2024, Fidelity Investments filed a notice of data breach with the Attorney General of Maine after discovering a recent data security incident. In this notice, Fidelity explains that the incident resulted in an unauthorized party being able to access consumers’ sensitive information. Upon completing its investigation, Fidelity began sending out data breach notification letters to all individuals whose information was affected by the recent data security incident.
If you received a data breach notification from Fidelity Investments, it is essential you understand what is at risk and what you can do about it. A data breach lawyer 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 following the Fidelity Investments data breach. For more information, please see our recent piece on the topic here.
What Caused the Fidelity Investments Data Breach?
The Fidelity Investments data breach was only recently announced, and more information is expected in the near future. However, Fidelity’s filing with the Attorney General of Maine provides some important information on what led up to the breach. According to this source, on August 19, 2024, Fidelity learned that an unauthorized party was able to access and obtain certain information. Evidently, the unauthorized used two customer accounts that they had recently established to access the information.
Upon detection, Fidelity terminated all unauthorized access and then launched an investigation with the help of outside cybersecurity experts. Through this investigation, Fidelity confirmed that the unauthorized party was able to access confidential information pertaining to certain individuals.
After learning that sensitive consumer data was accessible to an unauthorized party, Fidelity Investments reviewed the compromised files to determine what information was leaked and which consumers were impacted. Fidelity recently completed this review process; however, the publicly available data breach letter on the Maine Attorney General’s website does not specify what information was leaked.
That said, on October 9, 2024, Fidelity Investments sent out data breach letters to anyone who was affected by the recent data security incident, and these letters should provide victims with a list of what information belonging to them was compromised.
More Information About Fidelity Investments
Established in 1946, Fidelity is a large financial services corporation based out of Boston, Massachusetts. Fidelity provides financial services and investment resources to individuals and institutions. Fidelity Investments operates a brokerage firm, manages mutual funds, and provides investment advice, retirement services, index funds, wealth management services, securities execution services, and life insurance products. Fidelity Investments employs more than 75,000 people and generates approximately $28 billion in annual revenue.