On May 11, 2021, Principal Financial Group experienced a data breach due to the inadvertent disclosure of personally identifiable information (PII). The incident, reported to the Maine Office of the Attorney General on May 25, 2021, exposed the first names, last names, and Social Security numbers of three Maine residents. Such sensitive data exposure poses a significant risk of identity theft, prompting the company to offer affected individuals one year of identity theft protection services. The breach highlights vulnerabilities in data handling practices, particularly concerning the safeguarding of critical personal identifiers. While the scale of the breach was limited to three individuals, the nature of the compromised data—Social Security numbers—elevates the potential for severe consequences, including financial fraud and long-term identity misuse. The company’s response included mitigative measures, but the incident underscores the ongoing challenges in protecting sensitive customer information from unintended disclosures.
TPRM report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/principalfinancialgroup
"id": "pri1009091725",
"linkid": "principalfinancialgroup",
"type": "Breach",
"date": "5/2021",
"severity": "85",
"impact": "4",
"explanation": "Attack with significant impact with customers data leaks"{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': '3 (Maine residents)',
'industry': 'Insurance and Investment Management',
'location': 'Des Moines, Iowa, USA',
'name': 'Principal Financial Group',
'type': 'Financial Services'}],
'attack_vector': 'Inadvertent Disclosure',
'customer_advisories': 'Identity theft protection services offered for one '
'year',
'data_breach': {'number_of_records_exposed': '3',
'personally_identifiable_information': ['First Names',
'Last Names',
'Social Security '
'Numbers'],
'sensitivity_of_data': 'High (includes Social Security '
'Numbers)',
'type_of_data_compromised': ['Personally Identifiable '
'Information (PII)']},
'date_detected': '2021-05-11',
'date_publicly_disclosed': '2021-05-25',
'description': 'On May 25, 2021, the Maine Office of the Attorney General '
'reported a data breach involving Principal Financial Group. '
'The breach occurred on May 11, 2021, due to inadvertent '
'disclosure of personally identifiable information (PII) '
'affecting three Maine residents. The exposed data included '
'first names, last names, and Social Security numbers. '
'Identity theft protection services were offered to the '
'affected individuals for one year.',
'impact': {'brand_reputation_impact': 'Potential reputational harm due to '
'exposure of sensitive PII',
'data_compromised': ['First Names',
'Last Names',
'Social Security Numbers'],
'identity_theft_risk': 'High (PII including SSNs exposed)'},
'investigation_status': 'Disclosed; no further details provided',
'post_incident_analysis': {'corrective_actions': 'Offered identity theft '
'protection services to '
'affected individuals',
'root_causes': 'Inadvertent disclosure of PII'},
'references': [{'source': 'Maine Office of the Attorney General'}],
'regulatory_compliance': {'regulatory_notifications': 'Maine Office of the '
'Attorney General'},
'response': {'communication_strategy': 'Public disclosure via Maine Office of '
'the Attorney General',
'remediation_measures': 'Offered identity theft protection '
'services for one year to affected '
'individuals'},
'title': 'Principal Financial Group Data Breach (May 2021)',
'type': 'Data Breach'}