Thousands of customers of the asset management firm Fidelity Investments had their personal data exposed in a breach by an unidentified hacker, as reported by TechCrunch. The breach, discovered on August 19, involved the hacker obtaining 77,009 customers’ data using phony accounts. Another data breach notice filed by the New Hampshire attorney general’s office revealed a second incident where the unauthorized third party accessed Fidelity’s internal database in mid-August. While no customer accounts or funds were compromised in either breach, steps recommended by the Federal Trade Commission include freezing credit reports and placing fraud alerts if personal data is suspected to have been leaked. Reporting identity theft incidents can be done through IdentityTheft.gov or by calling 1-877-438-4338.
