IES Communications

IES Communications, an IT contractor, experienced a data breach in March 2025 that compromised the personal information of 6,241 employees, including names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, payroll info, and other identifying information. The ransomware gang Chaos took credit for the attack, claiming to have stolen 1 TB of data. IES has not verified Chaos’ claim and it is unknown if a ransom was paid. The company is offering 24 months of free credit monitoring and identity restoration to eligible victims.

Source: https://www.comparitech.com/news/ies-communications-notifies-6000-employees-of-data-breach-that-compromised-ssns-and-payroll-info/

TPRM report: https://scoringcyber.rankiteo.com/company/iescomm

"id": "ies624070925",
"linkid": "iescomm",
"type": "Ransomware",
"date": "7/2025",
"severity": "85",
"impact": "3",
"explanation": "Attack with significant impact with internal employee data leaks"

{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': '6,241 employees',
                        'industry': 'Technology',
                        'location': 'United States',
                        'name': 'IES Communications',
                        'size': 'More than 1,000 employees',
                        'type': 'IT Contractor'}],
 'attack_vector': ['Drive-by-downloads', 'Phishing'],
 'data_breach': {'data_exfiltration': '1 TB of data',
                 'number_of_records_exposed': '6,241',
                 'personally_identifiable_information': True,
                 'sensitivity_of_data': 'High',
                 'type_of_data_compromised': ['Names',
                                              'Social Security numbers',
                                              'Dates of birth',
                                              'Addresses',
                                              'Payroll info',
                                              'Other identifying info']},
 'date_detected': '2025-03-17',
 'date_publicly_disclosed': '2025-06-06',
 'description': 'IES Communications experienced a data breach in March 2025, '
                'compromising names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, '
                'addresses, payroll info, and other identifying information of '
                '6,241 employees. The ransomware gang Chaos took credit for '
                'the attack, claiming to have stolen 1 TB of data.',
 'impact': {'data_compromised': ['Names',
                                 'Social Security numbers',
                                 'Dates of birth',
                                 'Addresses',
                                 'Payroll info',
                                 'Other identifying info']},
 'investigation_status': 'Ongoing',
 'motivation': 'Double-extortion scheme',
 'ransomware': {'data_exfiltration': '1 TB of data',
                'ransomware_strain': 'Chaos'},
 'references': [{'source': 'Comparitech'}],
 'response': {'communication_strategy': 'Offering 24 months of free credit '
                                        'monitoring and identity restoration '
                                        'through Experian'},
 'threat_actor': 'Chaos',
 'title': 'IES Communications Data Breach',
 'type': 'Ransomware'}