Renovate America, Inc.

The California Office of the Attorney General disclosed a data breach affecting Renovate America, Inc. on February 3, 2017, stemming from an email spoofing attack executed on January 20, 2017. The incident led to the unauthorized disclosure of employee W-2 information, which typically includes sensitive details such as Social Security numbers, salaries, tax withholdings, and personal identifiers. While the exact number of affected individuals remains undisclosed, the exposure of such data poses significant risks, including identity theft, financial fraud, and tax-related scams.The breach highlights vulnerabilities in the company’s email security protocols, as spoofing attacks exploit trust in seemingly legitimate communications to deceive employees into divulging confidential information. Given the nature of the compromised data employee tax records the incident falls under internal data leakage with severe implications for workforce privacy and corporate accountability. The lack of clarity on the breach’s full scope further amplifies concerns over potential downstream consequences, such as regulatory penalties or erosion of employee trust.This case underscores the critical need for robust phishing defenses, employee training, and multi-factor authentication to mitigate similar threats in environments handling sensitive personnel data.

Source: https://oag.ca.gov/ecrime/databreach/reports/sb24-66165

TPRM report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/foahomeimprovement

"id": "foa259082125",
"linkid": "foahomeimprovement",
"type": "Breach",
"date": "1/2017",
"severity": "60",
"impact": "3",
"explanation": "Attack with significant impact with internal employee data leaks"

{'affected_entities': [{'industry': 'Financial Services / Home Improvement '
                                    'Financing',
                        'location': 'California, USA',
                        'name': 'Renovate America, Inc.',
                        'type': 'Private Company'}],
 'attack_vector': 'Email Spoofing',
 'data_breach': {'data_exfiltration': True,
                 'file_types_exposed': ['W-2 Forms'],
                 'number_of_records_exposed': 'Unknown',
                 'personally_identifiable_information': True,
                 'sensitivity_of_data': 'High (Personally Identifiable '
                                        'Information - PII)',
                 'type_of_data_compromised': ['Employee W-2 Information']},
 'date_detected': '2017-01-20',
 'date_publicly_disclosed': '2017-02-03',
 'description': 'The California Office of the Attorney General reported a data '
                'breach involving Renovate America, Inc. on February 3, 2017. '
                'The breach occurred on January 20, 2017, and involved an '
                'email spoofing attack, resulting in the disclosure of '
                'employee W-2 information for an unknown number of '
                'individuals.',
 'impact': {'data_compromised': ['Employee W-2 Information'],
            'identity_theft_risk': 'High (W-2 data exposed)'},
 'initial_access_broker': {'entry_point': 'Email Spoofing',
                           'high_value_targets': ['Employee W-2 Data']},
 'references': [{'source': 'California Office of the Attorney General'}],
 'regulatory_compliance': {'regulatory_notifications': ['California Office of '
                                                        'the Attorney '
                                                        'General']},
 'title': 'Renovate America, Inc. Email Spoofing Data Breach (2017)',
 'type': 'Data Breach'}