On November 23, 2021, Creative Services, Inc. suffered a data breach caused by an external hacking incident, exposing sensitive personal information of 165,226 individuals, including 2,062 Maine residents. The compromised data included names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and financial account numbers highly sensitive details that significantly increase the risk of identity theft and financial fraud.The breach was reported to the Maine Office of the Attorney General on April 18, 2022, with affected individuals notified in phases (February 23, February 25, and April 18, 2022). As a remedial measure, the company offered 12 months of identity theft protection services through Equifax. The incident highlights severe vulnerabilities in the company’s cybersecurity defenses, leading to a large-scale exposure of customer data, which could result in long-term reputational damage, legal repercussions, and financial losses for both the company and the affected individuals.
TPRM report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/creative-services-inc.
"id": "cre015091825",
"linkid": "creative-services-inc.",
"type": "Breach",
"date": "11/2021",
"severity": "85",
"impact": "4",
"explanation": "Attack with significant impact with customers data leaks"{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': 165226,
'name': 'Creative Services, Inc.',
'type': 'Company'}],
'attack_vector': 'External System Breach (Hacking)',
'customer_advisories': 'Written notifications sent; 12 months of identity '
'theft protection services offered via Equifax',
'data_breach': {'data_exfiltration': 'Yes',
'number_of_records_exposed': 165226,
'personally_identifiable_information': ['Names',
'Dates of Birth',
'Social Security '
'Numbers'],
'sensitivity_of_data': 'High',
'type_of_data_compromised': ['Personal Information',
'Financial Information']},
'date_publicly_disclosed': '2022-04-18',
'description': 'Creative Services, Inc. experienced a data breach due to an '
'external system breach (hacking) on November 23, 2021, '
'affecting 165,226 individuals, including 2,062 Maine '
'residents. The breached data included personal information '
'such as names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and '
'financial account numbers. Written notifications were sent to '
'affected individuals on February 23, February 25, and April '
'18, 2022, and identity theft protection services were offered '
'for 12 months through Equifax.',
'impact': {'data_compromised': ['Names',
'Dates of Birth',
'Social Security Numbers',
'Financial Account Numbers'],
'identity_theft_risk': 'High (PII and financial data exposed)',
'payment_information_risk': 'High (Financial account numbers '
'exposed)'},
'references': [{'source': 'Maine Office of the Attorney General'}],
'regulatory_compliance': {'regulatory_notifications': 'Maine Office of the '
'Attorney General'},
'response': {'communication_strategy': 'Written notifications sent to '
'affected individuals on 2022-02-23, '
'2022-02-25, and 2022-04-18',
'third_party_assistance': 'Equifax (Identity Theft Protection '
'Services)'},
'title': 'Creative Services, Inc. Data Breach (2021)',
'type': 'Data Breach'}