CSI Financial Services, LLC

In early 2021, CSI Financial Services, LLC (operating as ClearBalance) suffered a data breach resulting from unauthorized access to employee email accounts over a nearly two-month period (March 8, 2021, to April 26, 2021). The incident, reported by the California Office of the Attorney General on July 9, 2021, exposed sensitive personal information of affected individuals. Compromised data included full names, Social Security numbers (SSNs), and banking details highly valuable targets for identity theft, financial fraud, or further cyber exploitation.The breach stemmed from a likely phishing or credential-compromise attack, granting threat actors prolonged access to internal communications. While the exact number of impacted individuals was not specified in the report, the nature of the exposed data (SSNs and financial records) elevates the risk of long-term harm, including unauthorized account access, loan fraud, or tax-related scams. ClearBalance, a provider of healthcare financing solutions, faced potential reputational damage and regulatory scrutiny due to the failure to prevent or promptly detect the intrusion.The incident underscores vulnerabilities in email security protocols and the critical need for multi-factor authentication (MFA), endpoint monitoring, and employee cybersecurity training to mitigate similar threats in financial and healthcare-adjacent sectors.

Source: https://oag.ca.gov/ecrime/databreach/reports/sb24-542757

TPRM report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/csi-financial-llc

"id": "csi740082025",
"linkid": "csi-financial-llc",
"type": "Breach",
"date": "3/2021",
"severity": "85",
"impact": "4",
"explanation": "Attack with significant impact with customers data leaks"

{'affected_entities': [{'industry': 'Healthcare Financing',
                        'location': 'California, USA',
                        'name': 'CSI Financial Services, LLC (ClearBalance)',
                        'type': 'Financial Services'}],
 'attack_vector': 'Unauthorized Email Access',
 'data_breach': {'data_exfiltration': 'Likely (unauthorized access to emails)',
                 'file_types_exposed': ['Emails', 'Attachments (potential)'],
                 'personally_identifiable_information': ['names',
                                                         'social security '
                                                         'numbers'],
                 'sensitivity_of_data': 'High',
                 'type_of_data_compromised': ['Personally Identifiable '
                                              'Information (PII)',
                                              'Financial Data']},
 'date_publicly_disclosed': '2021-07-09',
 'description': 'The California Office of the Attorney General reported that '
                'CSI Financial Services, LLC (ClearBalance) experienced a data '
                'breach due to unauthorized access to email accounts between '
                'March 8, 2021, and April 26, 2021. The breach potentially '
                'affected personal information of individuals, including '
                'names, social security numbers, and banking information.',
 'impact': {'data_compromised': ['names',
                                 'social security numbers',
                                 'banking information'],
            'identity_theft_risk': 'High (PII exposed)',
            'payment_information_risk': 'High (banking information exposed)',
            'systems_affected': ['email accounts']},
 'initial_access_broker': {'entry_point': 'Email Accounts',
                           'reconnaissance_period': 'March 8, 2021 – April 26, '
                                                    '2021 (duration of '
                                                    'unauthorized access)'},
 'references': [{'date_accessed': '2021-07-09',
                 'source': 'California Office of the Attorney General'}],
 'regulatory_compliance': {'regulations_violated': ['Potential HIPAA (if '
                                                    'healthcare data involved)',
                                                    'California Consumer '
                                                    'Privacy Act (CCPA)'],
                           'regulatory_notifications': ['California Office of '
                                                        'the Attorney '
                                                        'General']},
 'title': 'CSI Financial Services (ClearBalance) Data Breach via Unauthorized '
          'Email Access',
 'type': 'Data Breach'}