M3 Accounting Systems

The Maine Office of the Attorney General disclosed on May 19, 2022, that M3 Accounting Systems suffered a data breach due to unauthorized access to its systems between October 13 and October 19, 2021. The incident exposed personal information, including names and Social Security Numbers (SSNs), of 1,789 individuals, with at least one confirmed Maine resident affected. While the breach scope was limited in terms of sensitive data types (primarily SSNs and names), the exposure of such personally identifiable information (PII) poses a high risk of identity theft and fraud. In response, M3 Accounting Systems issued written notifications to impacted individuals and offered 12 months of free identity theft protection services through IDX, a third-party provider. The breach did not involve ransomware, financial theft, or operational disruption, but the compromise of SSNs a critical identifier for financial and governmental authentication elevates the severity due to long-term fraud risks. The company’s proactive measures (notification and credit monitoring) aimed to mitigate harm, though the incident underscores vulnerabilities in safeguarding sensitive client data within accounting systems, which often handle high-value financial and personal records.

Source: https://www.maine.gov/agviewer/content/ag/985235c7-cb95-4be2-8792-a1252b4f8318/c11c707d-cf67-41ba-a332-cf7b5c0f4c9b.shtml

TPRM report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/m3-accounting

"id": "m3-013091825",
"linkid": "m3-accounting",
"type": "Breach",
"date": "10/2021",
"severity": "85",
"impact": "4",
"explanation": "Attack with significant impact with customers data leaks"

{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': '1,789 individuals (1 Maine '
                                              'resident confirmed)',
                        'industry': 'Accounting/Financial Services',
                        'name': 'M3 Accounting Systems',
                        'type': 'Business'}],
 'customer_advisories': 'Written notification and identity theft protection '
                        'services (IDX) offered',
 'data_breach': {'number_of_records_exposed': '1,789',
                 'personally_identifiable_information': ['names',
                                                         'Social Security '
                                                         'Numbers'],
                 'sensitivity_of_data': 'High (includes SSNs)',
                 'type_of_data_compromised': ['Personally Identifiable '
                                              'Information (PII)']},
 'date_publicly_disclosed': '2022-05-19',
 'description': 'The Maine Office of the Attorney General reported that M3 '
                'Accounting Systems experienced a data breach involving '
                'unauthorized access to systems from October 13 to October 19, '
                '2021. The breach potentially affected the personal '
                'information, including names and Social Security Numbers, of '
                'one Maine resident, while a total of 1,789 individuals were '
                'affected. M3 provided written notification and offered '
                'identity theft protection services through IDX.',
 'impact': {'data_compromised': ['names', 'Social Security Numbers'],
            'identity_theft_risk': 'High (SSNs compromised)'},
 'references': [{'date_accessed': '2022-05-19',
                 'source': 'Maine Office of the Attorney General'}],
 'regulatory_compliance': {'regulatory_notifications': 'Maine Office of the '
                                                       'Attorney General'},
 'response': {'communication_strategy': 'Written notification to affected '
                                        'individuals',
              'third_party_assistance': 'IDX (identity theft protection '
                                        'services)'},
 'title': 'M3 Accounting Systems Data Breach (2021)',
 'type': 'Data Breach'}