On October 3, 2024, FTV Employment Services and its affiliates (“Fortive”) filed notices of data breach with various state attorney general offices after discovering that an unauthorized party was able to access information in the companies’ control. In these notices, the Fortive subsidiaries explain that the incident resulted in an unauthorized party being able to access consumers’ sensitive information, which includes their names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, state-issued identification card numbers, passport numbers, birth certificate numbers, financial account numbers, and health insurance information. Upon completing its investigation, Fortive began sending out data breach notification letters to all individuals whose information was affected by the recent data security incident.
If you received a data breach notification from Fortive, it is essential you understand what is at risk and what you can do about it. A data breach lawyer can help you learn more about how to protect yourself from becoming a victim of fraud or identity theft, as well as discuss your legal options following the Fortive data breach. For more information, please see our recent piece on the topic here.
What Caused the Fortive Data Breach?
The Fortive data breach was only recently announced, and more information is expected in the near future. However, Fortive’s filing with the Attorney General of Maine provides some important information on what led up to the breach. According to this source, in October and November of 2023, Fortive detected unusual activity within its computer network stemming from two separate cyberattacks.
In response, Fortive launched an investigation that ultimately confirmed that an unauthorized party was able to access portions of its IT network between January 25, 2023 and November 6, 2023. The unauthorized access was terminated on November 6, 2023. However, Fortive also confirmed that the unauthorized party was able to access files and folders containing confidential information belonging to certain individuals.
After learning that sensitive consumer data was accessible to an unauthorized party, Fortive reviewed the compromised files to determine what information was leaked and which consumers were impacted. While the breached information varies depending on the individual, it may include your name, date of birth, Social Security number, driver's license number, state-issued identification card number, passport number, birth certificate number, financial account number, credit or debit card number, and health insurance information.
On October 3, 2024, Fortive sent out data breach letters to anyone who was affected by the recent data security incident. These letters should provide victims with a list of what information belonging to them was compromised.
Which Fortive Subsidiaries Were Affected by the Data Breach?
The following Fortive subsidiaries reported a data breach to one or more state attorney general offices:
- Accruent
- Advanced Sterilization Products
- Censis Technologies, Inc.
- Fluke Corp.
- Industrial Scientific Corporation
- Pacific Scientific Energetic Materials Company
- Setra Systems, Inc.
- The Gordian Group, Inc.
More Information About Fortive
Fortive is an industrial technology company based out of Everett, Washington. Fortive provides technology for connected workflow solutions and also designs, develops, manufactures and distributes professional and engineered products, software, and services. Fortive spun off from Danaher in July 2016. Fortive employs more than 18,000 people and generates approximately $6.2 billion in annual revenue.
