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Workers whose personal information was exposed in a 2019 Altice data breach say that hackers were able to access the system because of carelessly configured data security systems.
Lead plaintiff Edward Hellyer, a retired worker who says his data was compromised in the breach, alleges that the breach occurred because of the company’s failure to train its employees in data security.
According to the Altice class action, a number of employees fell for the phishing scam and provided their login information that put both customers and other workers at risk.
“Phishing attacks are common and most companies avoid falling victim to them by a combination of email protection software, regular employee trainings, and other common cyber security precautions,” states the complaint.
According to the Altice data breach class action lawsuit, the personally identifiable information, or PII, exposed in the attack included names, employment information, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and drivers’ license numbers. The data breach may have additionally compromised an encrypted report of PPI for every current and former Altice employee.
Altice provides a cable service, Optimum, according to the complaint. Employees, as well as customers, are required to provide highly sensitive information to the company, making Altice a “juicy target.”
The hackers were allegedly able to access this information by downloading the email box of one of the employees who fell for the phishing scam.
The Altice data breach class action lawsuit points to a number of deficiencies in the company’s handing of PII that led to the success of the phishing attack.
First, Altice’s email system allegedly did not appropriately screen for and remove phishing emails from employees’ email boxes. Further, employees were inadequately trained to identify, report, and delete phishing emails, says the plaintiff. Additionally, pointing out that the most sensitive information was included in an employee’s email box, the complaint contends that this type of information should never have been permitted to be transferred by email.
“No sophisticated business in the 21st century should permit a document containing the PII of all 12,000+ of its current employees to be stored — unencrypted — in company email inboxes,” argues the Altice data breach class action lawsuit.
According to the complaint, those affected by the Altice data breach now face the threat of identity theft and fraud, lost time and expenses related to protecting themselves and their data, as well as loss of privacy.
The plaintiff also alleges that Altice has not yet fully informed the public of the breach – it has only started to send letters to those affected by the breach and notified a handful of attorney generals in various states.
Hellyer seeks to represent all individuals, including employees, whose PII was exposed in the 2019 Altice data breach.
Were you affected by the Altice data breach? Do you think that they should have done more to protect your information? Tell us what you think in the comments below!
The lead plaintiff and proposed Class Members are represented by Richard A. Acocelli of Weisslaw LLP and Cornelius P. Dukelow of Abington Cole & Ellery.
The Altice Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit is Edward Hellyer v. Altice USA Inc., Case No. 1:20-cv-01410, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
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10 thoughts onAltice Data Breach Class Action Filed By Ex-Employee
A
I received a notification and I called the number now what?
i was not informed of this action . also i have not received anything from alice .
I worked for them for over two years and just got notice today 7/25/22 . I can’t claim anything after March…. I have there company for internet provider so they know my address but wanted to inform me late. Very upsetting
My husband was not informed and I dont know if he will be included in the $3000 dollar payout to him.
I was told that my information may have been at risk due to the breach. They have me an experian code that was not valid. So basically lied about offering help. Talked to my supervisor about it. Was told to not pursue a dead end. And then I was fired two weeks later for something completely false. And there was nothing I could do about it. Not a single person did the right thing. Everyone looked away in fear for there jobs. Just like nothing will happen from this. It’s always a headache to get back merely a fraction of the loss they caused. Not to mention increased my service bill once they got rid of me. Payment for being a hard worker
I was informed by letter that my personal information was affected by the Altice data breach. I believe that Altice could have done a lot more to protect employees personal information to prevent this from happening.
I received a letter in the mail. It gave information for Experian ID Works Credit Monitoring free for 1 year, but the code is invalid, thus this does not work. Spoke with their customer service department, they were not helpful at all.
I was not informed
I was told by Altice my information was breeched