SHI International Corp. Confirms Recent Data Breach Resulted in Compromised Employee Data - JD Supra

On July 22, 2022, SHI International Corp. (“SHI”) filed an official notice of a data breach with several state government agencies after an unauthorized party gained access to sensitive employee data contained on the company’s computer network. According to the SHI, the breach resulted in the following information of certain employees being leaked: names, Social Security numbers; home addresses; job titles; dates of employment; salary; tax, banking and loan information; COVID-19 vaccination status and dates of any COVID-19 illness. After confirming the breach and identifying all affected parties, on July 22, 2022, SHI International began sending out data breach letters to all affected parties.

If you received a data breach notification, it is essential you understand what is at risk and what you can do about it. To learn more about how to protect yourself from becoming a victim of fraud or identity theft and what your legal options are in the wake of the SHI International data breach, please see our recent piece on the topic here.

What We Know About the SHI International Data Breach

The information about the SHI International Corp. data breach comes from the company’s official filing with various state governments. According to the most recently released information, on July 2, 2022, SHI detected suspicious activity within its computer network. In response, the company secured its IT systems and enlisted the assistance of third-party cybersecurity specialists to assist with an investigation. While SHI claims it was able to contain the incident, the company believes that the unauthorized party may have stolen some employee data.

Upon discovering that sensitive consumer data was accessible to an unauthorized party, SHI International began the process of reviewing all affected files to determine what information was compromised and which consumers were impacted by the incident. While the breached information varies depending on the individual, it may include your name; Social Security number; home address; job title; dates of employment; salary; tax, banking and loan information; COVID-19 vaccination status and dates of any COVID-19 illness.

On July 22, 2022, SHI International sent out data breach letters to all individuals whose information was compromised as a result of the recent data security incident.

More Information About SHI International Corp.

SHI International Corp. is a business services company based in Somerset, New Jersey. SHI provides computer software, hardware, and IT solutions to companies of all sizes across the United States and globally. SHI International has approximately 26 facilities across the U.S. and an additional nine facilities in Asia and Canada. SHI International employs more than 5,000 people and generates approximately $11 billion in annual revenue.

Can Employees Hold Their Employer Accountable After a Data Breach?

Yes, United States data breach laws impose the same duty on companies regardless of whether the leaked information belongs to a customer, employee, or non-customer consumer. Thus, employees may be able to hold their employers liable through a data breach class action lawsuit following a data breach affecting their information. However, employers are not automatically on the hook for damages just because their systems were breached. As a general rule, employers are only liable for those breaches that were the result of their negligent actions, policies or procedures.

In this context, negligence is a legal term requiring an employee to prove the following elements:

• The company owed employees a duty of care,

• The company violated the duty owed to employees,

• The company’s breach of the duty owed to employees caused or contributed to the data breach, and

• The breach resulted in employees suffering economic or non-economic damages.

Clearly, given the employer-employee relationship, establishing the first element of a data breach claim against an employer poses few difficulties as employers are commonly understood to have a duty to protect employee data. However, the remaining elements of a data breach lawsuit are often contested. Thus, while it may seem as though proving employer negligence in the wake of a data breach lawsuit is straightforward, that is not necessarily the case.

For example, employers are not likely to admit that they were negligent in the maintenance or storage of employee data. Further, employers will often argue that they are not liable for a breach because the cyberattack leading to the leaked employee data was carried out by a third-party criminal actor.

However, just because a criminal orchestrated an attack against a company doesn’t mean that an employer is immune from liability. Employers have a legal duty to implement robust data security systems to protect the employee data in their possession. Additionally, companies should establish a protocol for identifying potential threats and responding to discovered data breaches to minimize their impact.

In terms of damages in a data breach lawsuit, the most common types of damages relate to the financial and non-economic cost of being forced to deal with identity theft and other frauds. However, courts have recently started to allow data breach victims to bring a claim against a company even if their information was not used to commit identity theft or fraud. These courts have determined that the increased risk of identity theft in the future is enough to give employees the right to sue their employer for leaking their information.

However, the laws governing these claims are very complex, and employees who fell victim to a data breach should reach out to a dedicated data breach lawyer for assistance.

Adblock test (Why?)

"corp" - Google News
July 26, 2022 at 01:41AM
https://ift.tt/TtPZlgO

SHI International Corp. Confirms Recent Data Breach Resulted in Compromised Employee Data - JD Supra
"corp" - Google News
https://ift.tt/fg4nqVJ
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update

Bagikan Berita Ini