New York Union Suffers Data Breach, Exposing 47K Members’ SSNs in May 2025
The Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA), New York’s largest labor union representing 300,000 state and local government employees, confirmed a data breach affecting over 47,000 members. The incident, detected in late May 2025, involved unauthorized access to CSEA’s systems between May 3 and May 31, during which attackers potentially exfiltrated sensitive data, including names and Social Security numbers (SSNs).
CSEA immediately launched an investigation with cybersecurity and privacy firms, taking systems offline, resetting passwords, and deploying advanced security measures. While the union found no evidence of fraud or identity theft linked to the breach, the exposure of SSNs permanent and irrevocable poses long-term risks, such as fraudulent credit applications, tax return fraud, or benefits theft.
As a major affiliate of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), CSEA notified affected members and reported the breach to the Maine Attorney General’s Office. The union’s response underscores the growing threat of targeted attacks on labor organizations, where compromised personal data can have lasting financial and reputational consequences.
Source: https://cybernews.com/security/new-york-csea-union-data-breach/
OCSEA cybersecurity rating report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/ocsea
"id": "OCS1768995542",
"linkid": "ocsea",
"type": "Breach",
"date": "5/2025",
"severity": "85",
"impact": "4",
"explanation": "Attack with significant impact with customers data leaks"{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': '47,000 members',
'industry': 'Government/Union',
'location': 'New York, USA',
'name': 'Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA)',
'size': '300,000 members',
'type': 'Labor Union'}],
'customer_advisories': 'Notified affected members',
'data_breach': {'data_exfiltration': 'Potential exfiltration',
'number_of_records_exposed': '47,000',
'personally_identifiable_information': 'Names, Social '
'Security numbers '
'(SSNs)',
'sensitivity_of_data': 'High (SSNs)',
'type_of_data_compromised': 'Personally Identifiable '
'Information (PII)'},
'date_detected': '2025-05-31',
'description': 'The Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA), New York’s '
'largest labor union representing 300,000 state and local '
'government employees, confirmed a data breach affecting over '
'47,000 members. The incident involved unauthorized access to '
'CSEA’s systems between May 3 and May 31, 2025, during which '
'attackers potentially exfiltrated sensitive data, including '
'names and Social Security numbers (SSNs).',
'impact': {'brand_reputation_impact': 'Long-term risks to reputation due to '
'exposure of sensitive data',
'data_compromised': 'Names, Social Security numbers (SSNs)',
'identity_theft_risk': 'Fraudulent credit applications, tax return '
'fraud, benefits theft',
'operational_impact': 'Systems taken offline, passwords reset'},
'investigation_status': 'Ongoing',
'references': [{'source': 'Maine Attorney General’s Office'}],
'regulatory_compliance': {'regulatory_notifications': 'Reported to Maine '
'Attorney General’s '
'Office'},
'response': {'communication_strategy': 'Notified affected members, reported '
'to Maine Attorney General’s Office',
'containment_measures': 'Systems taken offline, passwords reset',
'incident_response_plan_activated': 'Yes',
'remediation_measures': 'Advanced security measures deployed',
'third_party_assistance': 'Cybersecurity and privacy firms'},
'title': 'New York Union Suffers Data Breach, Exposing 47K Members’ SSNs in '
'May 2025',
'type': 'Data Breach'}