On February 16, 2023, MKS Instruments, Inc. filed notice of a data breach with the Attorney General of Montana after learning of a ransomware attack resulting in sensitive employee information being made accessible to an unauthorized party. Based on the company’s official filing, the incident resulted in an unauthorized party gaining access to consumers’ names, Social Security numbers, employment history, dates of birth, bank account information, and protected health information. After confirming that consumer data was leaked, MKS Instruments began sending out data breach notification letters to all individuals who were impacted by the recent data security incident.
If you currently or recently worked at MKS Instruments or elsewhere in the MKS and Atotech group of companies, your personal information may now be in the hands of the hackers who orchestrated the ransomware attack. As we’ve discussed in previous posts, hackers typically carry out these attacks to obtain confidential consumer information that they can then use to commit identity theft or sell to another criminal on the Dark Web. Therefore, it is imperative that you take all necessary precautions to reduce these risks. Additionally, if evidence emerges that MKS Instruments was negligent in how it handled your information, you may be able to recover financial compensation from the company through a data breach lawsuit.
What We Know So Far About the MKS Instruments Breach
The available information regarding the MKS Instruments breach comes from the company’s filing with the Attorney General of Montana. According to this source, on February 23, 2023, MKS Instruments learned that it had been the target of a recent ransomware attack after some of the company’s computer systems were encrypted. In response, MKS Instruments launched an investigation into the incident in hopes of learning more about what happened and whether any sensitive consumer or employee information was leaked as a result.
The company’s investigation confirmed that the encryption event was related to a ransomware attack and that the hackers gained access to a portion of MKS Instruments’ computer network. It was later determined that some of these files contained confidential information belonging to certain employees and former employees.
Upon discovering that sensitive employee data was made available to an unauthorized party, MKS Instruments began to review the affected files to determine what information was compromised and which consumers were impacted. While the breached information varies depending on the individual, it may include your name, contact information, address, Social Security Number, work login credentials/passwords, marital status, veteran status, nationality, immigration status, race, religious beliefs, education, employment history, date of birth, gender, sexual orientation, bank account information, payment card information, information about compensation and equity, information about your job position and hours worked, information about disabilities, health and medical conditions, employer union, health insurance information, basic information regarding your partner, children and emergency contacts.
On February 16, 2023, MKS Instruments sent out data breach letters to all individuals whose information was compromised as a result of the recent data security incident.
More Information About MKS Instruments, Inc.
Founded in 1961, MKS Instruments, Inc. is a manufacturing company based in Andover, Massachusetts. The company manufactures and sells instruments, subsystems, process control solutions and specialty chemicals technology to a variety of industries, primarily semiconductor manufacturers. MKS Instruments is publicly traded on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol “MKSI.” MKS Instruments employs more than 6,000 people and generates approximately $3 billion in annual revenue.
