Each person's information that was exposed to cybercriminals can differ and may consist of full name, Social Security number, number on the driver's license, birthdate, and email address. This is in line with information that RansomHub disclosed about its dark web extortion page, where the gang asserts that they have been unable to come to a settlement with Patelco despite two weeks of purported talks.

A post on the website of Maine's Attorney General Office states that 726,000 Patelco customers were affected by the incident. Instructions on how to sign up for a free two-year subscription to Experian's identity protection and credit monitoring services are included for recipients of the data breach alerts. The date of enrollment was announced as November 19, 2024.

Additionally, Patelco has posted a notice on the top page of its website alerting users that their staff would never get in touch with them personally to ask for their card information, such as their PIN, expiration date, or CVV code. Those who are exposed are more vulnerable to phishing, social engineering, and scams, thus they should be on the lookout for unsolicited messages and hostile attempts.

Impact

• Sensitive Data Theft
• Information Disclosure
• Financial Loss
• Operational Disruption

Remediation

• Regularly change passwords for all accounts and use strong, unique passwords for sensitive accounts.
• Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) on all accounts to add an extra layer of security to login processes.
• Consider the use of phishing-resistant authenticators to further enhance security. These types of authenticators are designed to resist phishing attempts and provide additional protection against social engineering attacks.
• Regularly monitor network activity for any unusual behavior, as this may indicate that a cyberattack is underway.
• Organizations need to stay vigilant and follow best practices for cybersecurity to protect their systems and data from potential threats. This includes regularly updating software and implementing strong access controls and monitoring tools.
• Develop a comprehensive incident response plan to respond effectively in case of a security breach or data leakage.
• Maintain regular backups of critical data and systems to ensure data recovery in case of a security incident.
• Adhere to security best practices, including the principle of least privilege, and ensure that users and applications have only the necessary permissions.
• Establish a robust patch management process to ensure that security patches are evaluated, tested, and applied promptly.
• Conduct security audits and assessments to evaluate the overall security posture of your systems and networks.
• Implement network segmentation to contain and isolate potential threats to limit their impact on critical systems.
• Never trust or open links and attachments received from unknown sources/senders.