Recently, Bonita Springs Utilities, Inc. confirmed that as many as 4,419 customers’ sensitive information was compromised as the result of a data breach at Technology Management Resources, Inc.

If you received a data breach notification, it is essential you understand what is at risk. More about our investigation into this breach, and what you can do if your data was stolen, is available here.

Last year, 1,862 data breaches affected more than 189 million people. On average, victims of identity theft spend 200 hours and over $1,300 recovering their identity. Many victims also suffer emotional distress, credit damage, and may even end up with a criminal record. Taking immediate action is the best way to prevent the worst consequences of a data breach.

What We Know So Far About the Bonita Springs Utilities / Technology Management Resources, Inc. Data Breach

Bonita Springs Utilities is a nonprofit water utility company that was founded by citizens of Bonita Springs, Florida in 1970. BSU provides water service to much of Bonita Springs, as well as portions of the Village of Estero.

Bonita Springs Utilities uses IberiaBank to process customers’ payments. To facilitate the payment processing, IberiaBank uses a lockbox service provided by Technology Management Resources, Inc. (“TMR”).

According to an official filing by BSU, on January 6, 2022, IberiaBank informed BSU of a data security incident involving the TMR lockbox services it uses to process BSU payments. More specifically, IberiaBank explained that TMR had identified suspicious activity regarding a user account in the company’s payment application on or around October 14, 2021. Evidently, the unauthorized party was able to obtain customer information available through the portal. At that time, however, IberiaBank had not informed BSU that any of BSU’s customers were impacted by the breach.

However, on February 10, 2022, IberiaBank provided updated information to BSU, informing the company that certain customers’ sensitive data was accessible to the unauthorized party.

In response, TMR investigated the incident, determining that an unauthorized party may have gained access to the payment application between October 12 and October 14, 2021. This information includes the names and financial account information of as many as 4,419 customers.

On March 11, 2022, Bonita Springs Utilities began sending out data breach notification letters to all individuals whose information was compromised as a result of the recent data security incident.

This isn’t the first time BSU customers’ information was compromised as a result of a TMR data breach. Back in 2020, there was a TMR breach under very similar circumstances, impacting as many as 3,143 customers.

More About the Causes and Risks of Data Breaches

Often, data breaches are the result of a hacker gaining unauthorized access to a company’s computer systems with the intention of obtaining sensitive consumer information. While no one can know the reason why a hacker targeted TMR, it is common for hackers and other criminals to identify those companies believed to have weak data security systems or vulnerabilities in their networks.

Once a cybercriminal gains access to a computer network, they can then access and remove any data stored on the compromised servers. While in most cases a company experiencing a data breach can identify which files were accessible, there may be no way for the company to tell which files the hacker actually accessed or whether they removed any data.

While the fact that your information was compromised in a data breach does not necessarily mean it will be used for criminal purposes, being the victim of a data breach puts your sensitive data in the hands of an unauthorized person. As a result, you are at an increased risk of identity theft and other frauds, and criminal use of your information is a possibility that should not be ignored.

Given this reality, individuals who receive a Bonita Springs Utilities data breach notification should take the situation seriously and remain vigilant in checking for any signs of unauthorized activity. Businesses like BSU, IberiaBank and TMR are responsible for protecting the consumer data in their possession. If evidence emerges that one of these companies failed to adequately protect your sensitive information, you may be eligible for financial compensation through a data breach lawsuit.

What Are Consumers’ Remedies in the Wake of the BSU Data Breach?

When customers decided to do business with BSU, they may not have known that other companies such as IberiaBank and TMR would also have access to their information. Regardless, anyone would assume that BSU and any other companies that contract with BSU would take their privacy concerns seriously. And it goes without saying that consumers would think twice before giving a company access to their information if they knew it wasn’t going to be secure. Thus, data breaches such as this one raise questions about the adequacy of companies’ data security systems.

When a business, government entity, non-profit organization, school, or any other organization accepts and stores consumer data, it also accepts a legal obligation to ensure this information remains private. The United States data breach laws allow consumers to pursue civil data breach claims against organizations that fail to protect their information. This is the case even if a company received a consumer’s information through a third-party, such as was the case with the BSU/TMR data breach.

Of course, given the recency of the Bonita Springs Utilities data breach, the investigation into the incident is still in its early stages. And, as of right now, there is not yet any evidence suggesting BSU, IberiaBank or TMR were legally responsible for the breach. However, that could change as additional information about the breach and its causes is revealed. Of course, data breaches involving multiple companies, all of which had access to (and a responsibility to maintain) consumer data, are especially complex.

If you have questions about your ability to bring a data breach class action lawsuit in the wake of the Bonita Springs Utilities data breach, reach out to a data breach attorney as soon as possible.

What Should You Do if You Receive a Bonita Springs Utilities Data Breach Notification?

If Bonita Springs Utilities sends you a data breach notification letter, you are among those whose information was compromised in the recent breach. While this isn’t a time to panic, the situation warrants your attention. Below are a few important steps you can take to protect yourself from identity theft and other fraudulent activity:

1. Identify What Information Was Compromised: The first thing to do after learning of a data breach is to carefully review the data breach letter sent. The letter will tell you what information of yours was accessible to the unauthorized party. Be sure to make a copy of the letter and keep it for your records. If you have trouble understanding the letter or what steps you can take to protect yourself, a data breach lawyer can help.

2. Limit Future Access to Your Accounts: Once you determine what information of yours was affected by the breach, the safest play is to assume that the hacker orchestrating the attack stole your data. While this may not be the case, it’s better to be safe than sorry. To prevent future access to your accounts, you should change all passwords and security questions for any online account. This includes online banking accounts, credit card accounts, online shopping accounts, and any other account containing your personal information. You should also consider changing your social media account passwords and setting up multi-factor authentication where it is available.

3. Protect Your Credit and Your Financial Accounts: After a data breach, companies often provide affected parties with free credit monitoring services. Signing up for the free credit monitoring offers some significant protections and doesn’t impact any of your rights to pursue a data breach lawsuit against the company if it turns out they were legally responsible for the breach. You should contact a credit bureau to request a copy of your credit report—even if you do not notice any signs of fraud or unauthorized activity. Adding a fraud alert to your account will provide you with additional protection.

4. Consider Implementing a Credit Freeze: A credit freeze prevents anyone from accessing your credit report. Credit freezes are free and stay in effect until you remove them. Once a credit freeze is in place, you can temporarily lift the freeze if you need to apply for any type of credit. While placing a credit freeze on your accounts may seem like overkill, given the risks involved, it’s justified. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center (“ITRC”), placing a credit freeze on your account is the “single most effective way to prevent a new credit/financial account from being opened.” However, just 3% of data breach victims place a freeze on their accounts.

5. Regularly Monitor Your Credit Report and Financial Accounts: Protecting yourself in the wake of a data breach requires an ongoing effort on your part. You should regularly check your credit report and all financial account statements, looking for any signs of unauthorized activity or fraud. You should also call your banks and credit card companies to report the fact that your information was compromised in a data breach.

Below is a copy of the initial data breach letter issued by Bonita Springs Utilities, Inc. (the actual notice sent to consumers can be found here):

Dear [Consumer],

Bonita Springs Utilities, Inc. (“BSU”) is writing to notify you that you may have been affected by a Technology Management Resources, Inc. (“TMR”) data security event. TMR is a third-party lockbox service provider utilized by IberiaBank. BSU uses IberiaBank to collect and process payments from our customers. To date, neither TMR nor IberiaBank have reported that your information has been misused as a result of TMR’s incident. Although this event did not affect BSU systems, we wanted to provide you with information on the event and the resources available to you to help protect your information, should you feel it appropriate to do so.

What Happened? On or about January 6, 2022, IberiaBank disclosed the TMR data security event to BSU. IberiaBank’s notice reported that on October 14, 2021, TMR identified unusual activity with a user account in its client payment application. TMR determined that the activity was unauthorized and occurred between October 12, 2021 and October 14, 2021, and during that time the unauthorized actor may have had access to certain information including images of customer documents uploaded to IberiaBank’s lockbox. On February 10, 2022 IberiaBank informed BSU that the security incident affected BSU customers and provided a list of those customers.

What Information Was Involved? IberiaBank reported that the information present in the involved lockbox account includes your name and [date element].

What We Are Doing. We take the confidentiality, privacy, and security of personal information very seriously. After receiving notice from IberiaBank, we took steps to understand the impact the TMR event had on BSU data. As part of our ongoing commitment to the security of our members, we are working to evaluate additional measures and safeguards in response to this incident. As an added precaution, we arranged to have TransUnion provide credit monitoring services for 12 months at no cost to you.

What You Can Do. We encourage you to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud by reviewing your account statements and monitoring your credit reports for suspicious activity. You may review the information contained in the enclosed “Steps You Can Take to Help Protect Personal Information.” You may also enroll in the complimentary identity credit monitoring services we are making available to you. Enrollment instructions are attached to this letter.

For More Information. We understand you may have questions about the TMR event that are not addressed in this letter. If you have questions, please call BSU at (239) 992-0711 Monday through Friday 7:30 am – 5:00 pm (excluding major U.S. holidays). You may also contact BSU by email at customerservice@bsu.us or by mail at 11900 East Terry Street, Bonita Springs, FL 34135.