Verisource Services Increases Data Breach Victim Count to 4 Million
Verisource Services, an employee benefits administration service provider, has determined that a previously announced data breach was far worse than initially thought and has affected up to 4 million individuals. The Houston, Texas-based company detected a hacking incident on February 28, 2024, that disrupted access to some of its systems. Third-party cybersecurity and incident response experts were engaged to investigate the incident and determine the nature and scope of the unauthorized activity.
The forensic investigation confirmed hackers had access to its network and exfiltrated files on February 27, 2024. At the time of the initial announcement, Verisource Services said names, dates of birth, genders, and Social Security numbers had been stolen. The affected individuals included employees and dependents of clients who used its services, which include HR outsourcing, benefits enrollment, billing, and administrative services.
The data breach was initially reported as affecting 1,382 individuals, but as the investigation progressed, it became clear that the breach was worse than initially thought. In August 2024, the data breach was reported to the HHS’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) as involving the protected health information of 112,726 individuals. The most recent notification to the Maine Attorney General indicates up to 4 million individuals have been affected, a sizeable increase from previous estimates. The OCR breach portal still lists the incident as affecting 112,726 patients and plan members of its HIPAA-regulated entity clients, although that total may well be updated in the coming days.
Verisource Services explained in the breach notice that the data review was not completed until April 17, 2025, almost 14 months after the security incident was detected. Verisource Services reported the security incident to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and several additional security measures have been implemented to improve its security posture. Notification letters had previously been sent to some affected individuals; however, the bulk of the notification letters have only recently been mailed. Verisource Services said complimentary credit monitoring and identity theft protection services have been offered to the affected individuals, who will also be protected with a $1,000,000 identity theft insurance policy.
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Since sensitive data was stolen many months ago, data may already have been misused. In addition to signing up for the credit monitoring and identity theft protection services, affected individuals should also check their account statements for signs of data misuse going back to February 2024. Verisource Services was already facing several class action lawsuits over the data breach. Now that the breach total has been substantially increased, further lawsuits are expected to be filed. The lawsuits already filed alleged that Verisource Services was negligent due to the failure to implement reasonable and appropriate cybersecurity measures and follow industry-standard cybersecurity best practices. The lawsuits seek a jury trial, attorneys’ fees, and compensatory and punitive damages.
