Preservation of Affordable Housing, Inc. (POAH) suffered an external system breach where unauthorized actors gained access to an employee’s email account between March 29, 2021, and April 9, 2021. The incident compromised the personal data of 312 individuals, including at least one Maine resident whose name and Social Security number (SSN) were exposed. The breach was disclosed via mail notifications sent on November 5, 2021, with affected individuals offered credit monitoring services through Equifax as a remedial measure. The attack targeted internal communication channels, exploiting an employee’s email as the entry point, which is a common vector for phishing or credential theft. While the scope appears limited to employee-related data exposure, the inclusion of SSNs elevates the risk of identity theft or financial fraud for the victims. The delayed notification (over seven months after detection) may also raise concerns about incident response timeliness and transparency.
TPRM report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/preservation-housing-management
"id": "pre035091825",
"linkid": "preservation-housing-management",
"type": "Breach",
"date": "3/2021",
"severity": "60",
"impact": "3",
"explanation": "Attack with significant impact with internal employee data leaks"{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': 312,
'industry': 'affordable housing',
'location': 'United States (Maine resident affected)',
'name': 'Preservation of Affordable Housing, Inc. '
'(POAH)',
'type': 'non-profit organization'}],
'attack_vector': 'compromised employee email account',
'customer_advisories': 'Notification sent via mail on November 5, 2021, '
'offering credit monitoring services through Equifax.',
'data_breach': {'number_of_records_exposed': 312,
'personally_identifiable_information': ['name',
'Social Security '
'number'],
'sensitivity_of_data': 'high (includes SSN)',
'type_of_data_compromised': ['personally identifiable '
'information (PII)']},
'date_publicly_disclosed': '2021-11-05',
'description': 'The Maine Office of the Attorney General reported that '
'Preservation of Affordable Housing, Inc. (POAH) experienced '
'an external system breach involving unauthorized access to an '
"employee's email account between March 29, 2021, and April 9, "
'2021. A total of 312 individuals were affected, including one '
'Maine resident whose compromised information included their '
'name and Social Security number. Notification was sent to '
'potentially impacted individuals via mail on November 5, '
'2021, offering credit monitoring services through Equifax.',
'impact': {'data_compromised': ['name', 'Social Security number'],
'identity_theft_risk': 'high (SSN exposed)',
'systems_affected': ['employee email account']},
'initial_access_broker': {'entry_point': 'employee email account'},
'references': [{'source': 'Maine Office of the Attorney General'}],
'regulatory_compliance': {'regulatory_notifications': ['Maine Office of the '
'Attorney General']},
'response': {'communication_strategy': 'mail notification to affected '
'individuals',
'third_party_assistance': ['Equifax (credit monitoring '
'services)']},
'title': 'Unauthorized Access to Employee Email Account at Preservation of '
'Affordable Housing, Inc. (POAH)',
'type': 'external system breach / unauthorized access'}