Recently, Gitterman Wealth Management, LLC confirmed that the company was the target of an email phishing incident compromising the sensitive information of consumers.

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.

What We Know So Far About the Gitterman Wealth Management Data Breach

Gitterman Wealth Management, LLC (“Gitterman”) is a financial services company based in Edison, New Jersey. The company was founded by Jeff Gitterman and Eli Rauch in 2010 and provides a wide range of services, primarily to higher net-income individuals, those in the academic community, and business owners. The company is known for focusing on investments that are sustainable and offer a higher-than-average rate of return for its customers.

According to an official filing by the company, Gitterman Wealth Management first learned of the incident when it became aware of emails sent from an employee’s account without her knowledge. In response, the company launched an internal investigation to determine the nature and scope of the incident, and what, if any, consumer information was compromised as a result.

The investigation revealed that, on August 23, 2021, a Gitterman employee responded to a phishing email, providing her login credentials. Shortly thereafter, an unauthorized party began using the employee’s credentials to log in to her account, accessing her emails. Gitterman notes that the unauthorized party had access to the employee’s email account between August 25, 2021 and September 10, 2021.

Upon learning of the extent of the security breach, Gitterman Wealth Management then reviewed the affected files in the employee’s email account to determine what information was compromised. While the compromised information varies by consumer, it may include their name, Social Security number and financial account information.

On February 28, 2022, Gitterman Wealth Management began sending out data breach notification letters to all individuals whose information was contained in the affected files.

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 Gitterman Wealth Management, 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 Gitterman Wealth Management data breach notification should take the situation seriously and remain vigilant in checking for any signs of unauthorized activity. Businesses like Gitterman Wealth Management are responsible for protecting the consumer data in their possession. If evidence emerges that Gitterman Wealth Management 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 Gitterman Wealth Management Data Breach?

When customers decided to do business with Gitterman Wealth Management, they assumed that the company 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 a company’s data security system.

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.

Of course, given the recency of the Gitterman 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 Gitterman Wealth Management is legally responsible for the breach. However, that could change as additional information about the breach and its causes is revealed.

If you have questions about your ability to bring a data breach class action lawsuit against Gitterman Wealth Management, reach out to a data breach attorney as soon as possible.

What Should You Do if You Receive a Gitterman Wealth Management Data Breach Notification?

If Gitterman Wealth Management 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 Gitterman Wealth Management:

Dear [Consumer],

Gitterman Wealth Management (“Gitterman”) is committed to protecting the confidentiality of the information we maintain. We are writing to inform you of a data security incident that may have involved some of your information. This notice explains the incident, measures we have taken, and some steps you can take in response.

On January 12, 2022, Gitterman concluded an investigation of an email phishing incident that targeted a Gitterman employee and may have resulted in unauthorized access to emails and attachments in the employee’s email account that contain personal information. Gitterman first became aware of the incident when we were notified that suspicious emails had been sent from an employee’s email account without her knowledge. Upon learning of the incident, we secured the account and launched an investigation. Our investigation determined that on August 23, 2021, the Gitterman employee inadvertently disclosed her email account credentials in response to a phishing email she received that she thought was legitimate. An unauthorized party then used the employee’s credentials to access her email account between August 25, 2021 and September 10, 2021. Based on our investigation, the likely purpose of the unauthorized access to the email account was to perpetrate an email phishing scheme, not to access personal information. That said, we cannot rule out the possibility that emails and attachments in the employee’s email account may have been viewed or accessed as a result of this incident. Subsequently, in order to determine if any emails or attachments contained personal information, we reviewed, both programmatically and manually, the information contained in the employee’s email account. Based on this review, we determined that emails and attachments in the employee’s email account that may have been subject to unauthorized access contain some of your information, including your name in combination with your <>.

To date, we have not received any reports of fraud related to this incident. However, out of an abundance of caution, we wanted to let you know this happened and assure you that we take this very seriously. We recommend that you remain vigilant to the possibility of fraud by reviewing your financial account statements. You should immediately report any suspicious activity to your financial institution.

We deeply regret any inconvenience or concern this may cause. To help prevent a similar incident from occurring in the future, we have implemented additional safeguards and technical security measures, including the deployment of multi-factor authentication for remote access to email. If you have any questions about this incident, please call 1-833-806-0379, Monday through Friday, between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m., Eastern Time.