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Ethos class action lawsuit overview:
- Who: Plaintiff Christopher Stein has filed a class action lawsuit against Ethos Technologies Inc. and Guidewire Software Inc.
- Why: Ethos and Guidewire allegedly failed to safeguard sensitive data, leaving it vulnerable to a targeted cyberattack from August through December 2022.
- Where: The Ethos class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court.
Ethos Technologies Inc. and Guidewire Software Inc. have been hit with a class action lawsuit alleging they failed to adequately safeguard sensitive data, leaving the information vulnerable to a targeted cyberattack.
Plaintiff Christopher Stein alleges Ethos and Guidewire obtained personally identifiable information (PII), including full names and Social Security numbers, from individuals who applied for their life insurance policies.
The defendants stored this PII on Ethos’s network. The PII was unencrypted and stored in an internet-accessible environment, the Ethos class action alleges.
In December 2022, unauthorized actors allegedly used an extraction tool to retrieve the PII from Guidewire, a third-party integrated service provider, Stein alleges.
Defendants knew PII was vulnerable but failed to safeguard data, Ethos class action says
Stein asserts that the defendants knew that the mechanism for the cyberattack and risk of Ethos data breach was a security vulnerability, but they failed to take steps to protect the data.
The Ethos class action alleges that class members face the risk of identity theft due to the defendants’ negligence and that this risk will remain for their lifetimes.
Further, Ethos and Guidestar failed to provide timely notice to those affected by the Ethos data breach, Stein says.Â
According to a letter Ethos sent to state Attorneys General and class members on Dec. 21, 2022, the defendants learned about the Ethos data breach on Dec. 8, 2022. The Ethos cyberattack reportedly allowed the extraction of PII from Aug. 4 through Dec. 9, 2022.
Ethos reportedly offered those affected by the data breach up to two years of fraud and identity monitoring services, but Stein says these complimentary services are insufficient to compensate class members for the damages incurred and the time they spent dealing with the Ethos data breach.
The Ethos class action lawsuit asserts claims for negligence, invasion of privacy, and unjust enrichment.
The Ethos data breach is not the only one to be announced in December. On Dec. 14, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced that it had responded to a data breach by one of its subcontractors that may have put 254,000 Medicare beneficiaries’ sensitive information at risk.
Were you affected by the Ethos data breach? Tell us about your experience in the comments!
Stein is represented by M. Anderson Berry and Gregory Haroutunian of Clayeo C. Arnold A Professional Law Corporation and Dylan J. Gould and Jonathan T. Deters of Markovits Stock & Demarco LLC.
The Ethos data breach class action lawsuit is Christopher Stein v. Ethos Technologies Inc., et al., Case No. 3:22-cv-09203, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division.
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One thought on Ethos, Guidewire class action claims recent data breach compromised consumer information
We got letters from Ethos group about the data breach. We would like to be included in the class action please.