If you are a current student or staff member of the University of California (UC), you may have been negatively affected by a recent data breach. UC’s third party file transfer service Accellion was hacked in April of 2021. It was in this hacking that malicious actors gained access to the files of students and staff.
The files contain sensitive personal and even medical information, including full names, addresses, telephone numbers, Social Security numbers, driver’s license information, passport information, financial information including bank routing and account numbers, health and related benefit information, disability information and birthdays, and other personal information.
Students and staff are required to share their personal and sensitive information to attend or work for the school. In turn, educational institutions such as UC owe a duty to protect this information. However, UC and Accellion failed to honor this duty when it allowed cybercriminals to access this information in these files.
During this time, students’ and staff’s sensitive information has been exposed to cybercriminals and may soon be, it not already, fraudulently used. Attorneys at Finkelstein, Blankinship, Frei-Pearson & Garber, LLP have successfully recovered millions of dollars on behalf of data breach victims. We are currently investigating this matter, as well as other data breaches. If you believe that your information may have been unlawfully accessed, please contact us to discover your legal options.