Notice of Data Security Incident
Coral Gables, Florida – [December 12, 2022] – The Haggard Law Firm, P.A. (“Haggard”) experienced a data security incident that may involve the personal information of some individuals it serves. Haggard takes the privacy and security of information in its possession very seriously and sincerely apologizes for any inconvenience this incident may cause. This notice is intended to alert potentially impacted individuals of the incident, steps we are taking in response, and resources available to assist and protect individuals.
What Happened: Haggard Law Firm (“Haggard”) was alerted to suspicious activity by a third party in November 2021 suggesting a potential business email compromise. Haggard proceeded to conduct an internal investigation and discovered that an unauthorized party may have gained access to a single employee’s business email account. Thereafter, Haggard engaged a third party cybersecurity firm to conduct a forensics investigation to determine the nature and scope of the incident. The forensics investigation concluded on December 14th, 2021. Thereafter, Haggard engaged a third party vendor to mine the contents of the compromised account to identify those individuals whose information may have been impacted in addition to the type of personally identifiable information stored in the account. This process took time from February to September 2022. Once Haggard was able to verify the names and addresses of potentially impacted individuals, it proceeded to engage a notice vendor to assist with mailing the notice letters to individuals, setting up a call center, and providing credit monitoring and identity theft protection services. At this time, Haggard is not aware of any individual’s information that was misused. Nonetheless, Haggard is notifying all potentially impacted individuals out of an abundance of caution.
What Information Was Involved: Although Haggard is unaware of any fraudulent misuse of information, it is possible that individuals’ full name, address, Driver’s License, Social Security number, financial account information, and medical information may have been exposed as a result of this unauthorized activity.
What We Are Doing: Haggard is committed to ensuring the security and privacy of all personal information in its control, and is taking steps to prevent a similar incident from occurring in the future. Upon discovery of the Incident, Haggard moved quickly to investigate and respond to the Incident, assessed the security of its systems, and notified the potentially affected individuals. Specifically, Haggard reset company passwords; implemented regular password changes; effected additional technical security measures; implemented Multi-Factor Authentication; employed more aggressive email filtering; conducted security awareness training; and took steps and will continue to take steps to mitigate the risk of future harm.
Although Haggard is not aware of any actual or attempted misuse of the affected personal information, Haggard is offering twelve to twenty-four months of complimentary credit monitoring and identity theft restoration services through CyberScout to all individuals to help protect their identity. Additionally, Haggard provided guidance on how to better protect against identity theft and fraud, including providing information on how to place a fraud alert and security freeze on one’s credit file, the contact details for the national consumer reporting agencies, information on how to obtain a free credit report, a reminder to remain vigilant for incidents of fraud and identity theft by reviewing account statements and monitoring free credit reports, and the contact details for the Federal Trade Commission.
What You Can Do: Haggard encourages all individuals to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud, to review their account statements, and to monitor their credit reports for suspicious or unauthorized activity. Additionally, individuals should contact their financial institution and all major credit bureaus to inform them of the incident and then take whatever steps are recommended by these institutions, which may include placing of a fraud alert on the individual’s account.
Please see below the section titled Additional Important Information to learn more about how to protect against potential misuse of your personal information.
For More Information: For individuals seeking more information or questions about this incident, please call Haggard’s dedicated toll-free helpline at 1-800-405-6108 between the hours of 8:00 am to 8:00 pm Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.
Once again, Haggard sincerely apologizes for any inconvenience this incident may cause to members of its community and remains dedicated to maintaining the security and protection of all information in its control.
Sincerely,
The Haggard Law Firm
Additional Important Information
For residents of Hawaii, Michigan, Missouri, Virginia, Vermont, and North Carolina:
It is recommended by state law that you remain vigilant for incidents of fraud and identity theft by reviewing credit card account statements and monitoring your credit report for unauthorized activity.
For residents of Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Oregon, and West Virginia:
It is required by state laws to inform you that you may obtain a copy of your credit report, free of charge, whether or not you suspect any unauthorized activity on your account. You may obtain a free copy of your credit report from each of the three nationwide credit reporting agencies. To order your free credit report, please visit www.annualcreditreport.com, or call toll-free at 1-877-322-8228. You can also order your annual free credit report by mailing a completed Annual Credit Report Request Form (available at https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0155-free-credit-reports) to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA, 30348-5281.
For residents of Iowa:
State law advises you to report any suspected identity theft to law enforcement or to the Attorney General.
For residents of Oregon:
State laws advise you to report any suspected identity theft to law enforcement, including the Attorney General, and the Federal Trade Commission.
For residents of Maryland, Rhode Island, Illinois, New York, and North Carolina:
You can obtain information from the Maryland and North Carolina Offices of the Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission about fraud alerts, security freezes, and steps you can take toward preventing identity theft.
Maryland Office of the Attorney General Consumer Protection Division 200, St. Paul Place Baltimore, MD 21202 1-888-743-0023 www.oag.state.md.us
Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General Consumer Protection 150 South Main Street, Providence RI 02903 1-401-274-4400 www.riag.ri.gov
North Carolina Office of the Attorney General Consumer Protection Division, 9001 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-9001 1-877-566-7226 www.ncdoj.gov
Federal Trade Commission Consumer Response Center, 600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW Washington, DC 20580 1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338) www.ftc.gov/idtheft
New York Office of Attorney General Consumer Frauds & Protection, The Capitol Albany, NY 12224 1-800-771-7755 https://ag.ny.gov/consumer-frauds/identity-theft
For residents of Massachusetts:
It is required by state law that you are informed of your right to obtain a police report if you are a victim of identity theft
For residents of all states:
Fair Credit Reporting Act: You are also advised that you may have additional rights under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Fraud Alerts: You can place fraud alerts with the three credit bureaus by phone and online with Equifax (https://assets.equifax.com/assets/personal/Fraud_Alert_Request_Form.pdf); TransUnion (https://www.transunion.com/fraud-alerts); or Experian (https://www.experian.com/fraud/center.html). A fraud alert tells creditors to follow certain procedures, including contacting you, before they open any new accounts or change your existing accounts. For that reason, placing a fraud alert can protect you, but also may delay you when you seek to obtain credit. As of September 21, 2018, initial fraud alerts last for one year. Victims of identity theft can also get an extended fraud alert for seven years. The phone numbers for all three credit bureaus are at the bottom of this page.
Monitoring: You should always remain vigilant and monitor your accounts for suspicious or unusual activity.
Security Freeze: You also have the right to place a security freeze on your credit report. A security freeze is intended to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. To place a security freeze on your credit report, you need to make a request to each consumer reporting agency. You may make that request by certified mail, overnight mail, regular stamped mail, or by following the instructions found at the websites listed below. The following information must be included when requesting a security freeze (note that if you are requesting a credit report for your spouse or a minor under the age of 16, this information must be provided for him/her as well): (1) full name, with middle initial and any suffixes; (2) Social Security number; (3) date of birth; (4) current address and any previous addresses for the past five years; and (5) any applicable incident report or complaint with a law enforcement agency or the Registry of Motor Vehicles. The request must also include a copy of a government-issued identification card and a copy of a recent utility bill or bank or insurance statement. It is essential that each copy be legible, display your name and current mailing address, and the date of issue. As of September 21, 2018, it is free to place, lift, or remove a security freeze. You may also place a security freeze for children under the age of 16. You may obtain a free security freeze by contacting any one or more of the following national consumer reporting agencies:
Equifax Security Freeze
P.O. Box 105788
Atlanta, GA 30348
(800)-525-6285
https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit-freeze/
More information can also be obtained by contacting the Federal Trade Commission listed above.
