Recently, Lake Shore Savings Bank confirmed that the company experienced a data security incident resulting in the names, addresses and bank account numbers of certain customers being compromised.
If you received a data breach notification, it is essential you understand what is at risk. More about our investigation into this breach, and what you can do if your data was stolen, is available here.
Last year, 1,862 data breaches affected more than 189 million people. On average, victims of identity theft spend 200 hours and over $1,300 recovering their identity. Many victims also suffer emotional distress, credit damage, and may even end up with a criminal record. Taking immediate action is the best way to prevent the worst consequences of a data breach.
More About the Causes and Risks of Data Breaches
Often, data breaches are the result of a hacker gaining unauthorized access to a company’s computer systems with the intention of obtaining sensitive consumer information. While no one can know the reason why a hacker targeted Lake Shore Savings, it is common for hackers and other criminals to identify those companies believed to have weak data security systems or vulnerabilities in their networks.
Once a cybercriminal gains access to a computer network, they can then access and remove any data stored on the compromised servers. While in most cases a company experiencing a data breach can identify which files were accessible, there may be no way for the company to tell which files the hacker actually accessed or whether they removed any data.
While the fact that your information was compromised in a data breach does not necessarily mean it will be used for criminal purposes, being the victim of a data breach puts your sensitive data in the hands of an unauthorized person. As a result, you are at an increased risk of identity theft and other frauds, and criminal use of your information is a possibility that should not be ignored.
Given this reality, individuals who receive a Lake Shore Savings Bank data breach notification should take the situation seriously and remain vigilant in checking for any signs of unauthorized activity. Businesses like Lake Shore Savings are responsible for protecting the consumer data in their possession. If evidence emerges that Lake Shore Savings Bank failed to adequately protect your sensitive information, you may be eligible for financial compensation through a data breach lawsuit.
What Are Consumers’ Remedies in the Wake of the Lake Shore Savings Bank Data Breach?
When customers decided to do business with Lake Shore Savings, they assumed that the company would take their privacy concerns seriously. And it goes without saying that consumers would think twice before giving a company access to their information if they knew it wasn’t going to be secure. Thus, data breaches such as this one raise questions about the adequacy of a company’s data security system.
When a business, government entity, non-profit organization, school, or any other organization accepts and stores consumer data, it also accepts a legal obligation to ensure this information remains private. The United States data breach laws allow consumers to pursue civil data breach claims against organizations that fail to protect their information.
Of course, given the recency of the Lake Shore Savings Bank data breach, the investigation into the incident is still in its early stages. And, as of right now, there is not yet any evidence suggesting Lake Shore Savings is legally responsible for the breach. However, that could change as additional information about the breach and its causes is revealed.
If you have questions about your ability to bring a data breach class action lawsuit against zLake Shore Savings Bank, reach out to a data breach attorney as soon as possible.
What Should You Do if You Receive a Lake Shore Savings Bank Data Breach Notification?
If Lake Shore Savings Bank sends you a data breach notification letter, you are among those whose information was compromised in the recent breach. While this isn’t a time to panic, the situation warrants your attention. Below are a few important steps you can take to protect yourself from identity theft and other fraudulent activity:
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Identify What Information Was Compromised: The first thing to do after learning of a data breach is to carefully review the data breach letter sent. The letter will tell you what information of yours was accessible to the unauthorized party. Be sure to make a copy of the letter and keep it for your records. If you have trouble understanding the letter or what steps you can take to protect yourself, a data breach lawyer can help.
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Limit Future Access to Your Accounts: Once you determine what information of yours was affected by the breach, the safest play is to assume that the hacker orchestrating the attack stole your data. While this may not be the case, it’s better to be safe than sorry. To prevent future access to your accounts, you should change all passwords and security questions for any online account. This includes online banking accounts, credit card accounts, online shopping accounts, and any other account containing your personal information. You should also consider changing your social media account passwords and setting up multi-factor authentication where it is available.
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Protect Your Credit and Your Financial Accounts: After a data breach, companies often provide affected parties with free credit monitoring services. Signing up for the free credit monitoring offers some significant protections and doesn’t impact any of your rights to pursue a data breach lawsuit against the company if it turns out they were legally responsible for the breach. You should contact a credit bureau to request a copy of your credit report—even if you do not notice any signs of fraud or unauthorized activity. Adding a fraud alert to your account will provide you with additional protection.
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Consider Implementing a Credit Freeze: A credit freeze prevents anyone from accessing your credit report. Credit freezes are free and stay in effect until you remove them. Once a credit freeze is in place, you can temporarily lift the freeze if you need to apply for any type of credit. While placing a credit freeze on your accounts may seem like overkill, given the risks involved, it’s justified. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center (“ITRC”), placing a credit freeze on your account is the “single most effective way to prevent a new credit/financial account from being opened.” However, just 3% of data breach victims place a freeze on their accounts.
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Regularly Monitor Your Credit Report and Financial Accounts: Protecting yourself in the wake of a data breach requires an ongoing effort on your part. You should regularly check your credit report and all financial account statements, looking for any signs of unauthorized activity or fraud. You should also call your banks and credit card companies to report the fact that your information was compromised in a data breach.
Below is the portion of the data breach notification sent out by Lake Shore Savings Bank:
Dear ,
This letter is to inform you about a data security incident experienced by Lake Shore Savings Bank, which may have involved your personal information, and, as a precaution, we are providing information about steps you can take to help protect your information. We take the privacy and security of your personal information very seriously and we sincerely regret any concern this incident may cause you.
What Happened? On November 24, 2021, Lake Shore Savings Bank experienced a data security incident that prevented employees from accessing internal systems and data. Upon discovering this incident Lake Shore Savings Bank immediately launched an investigation and engaged a digital forensics firm to help determine what happened and what information may have been accessed. Lake Shore Savings Bank also notified the FBI and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency about the incident. Through its investigation, Lake Shore Savings Bank identified unauthorized access to certain data in its systems. Although there is no evidence that your personal information was misused, out of an abundance of caution, we are notifying you of the incident and providing information about steps you can take to protect your information.
The incident did not involve access to any Lake Shore Savings Bank accounts, and there is no evidence of any unauthorized or suspicious activity in your Lake Shore Savings Bank account(s).
What Information Was Involved? The information may include your name, address and bank account number.
What Are We Doing? As soon as we discovered this incident, we took the steps described above. We have also implemented additional safeguards to help ensure the security of our network to reduce the risk of a similar event occurring in the future.
In addition, we are offering you identity theft protection services through IDX, the data breach and recovery expert. IDX identity protection services include: <<12 months/24 months>> of credit and CyberScan monitoring, a $1,000,000 insurance reimbursement policy, and fully managed id theft recovery services. With this protection, IDX will help you resolve issues if your identity is compromised.
What You Can Do: We encourage you to enroll in free identity protection services by calling 1-800-939-4170 or going to http://app.idx.us/account-creation/protect and using the Enrollment Code provided above. Please note the deadline to enroll is June 7, 2022.
Please call 1-800-939-4170 or go to http://app.idx.us/account-creation/protect for assistance or for any additional questions you may have.
For More Information: Further information about how to protect your information appears on the following page. If you have questions concerning this incident, please contact 1-800-939-4170, Monday-Friday (excluding holidays), 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern Time.
Please accept our sincere apologies and know that we deeply regret any concerns of inconvenience that this may cause you. Thank you for your continued trust and support.
