Law Foundation of Silicon Valley hit by ransomware: 42K+ clients and staff exposed

A law firm in Silicon Valley working with under-represented individuals has disclosed a data breach affecting tens of thousands of people.

The foundation was hit on 18th February this year with a “sophisticated ransomware attack” that disrupted its services. Even though they managed to get their operations up and running, threat actors managed to compromise data on one of the foundation’s servers.

Established 40 years ago, the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley has 90 attorneys, social workers, and staff who, along with pro-bono volunteers, mostly serve under-represented individuals and families.

According to the data breach notification filed with the Maine Attorney General, attackers compromised the data of 42,525 “clients, staff, and others.”

The compromised information included:

• Social Security numbers

• Medical records

• Immigration numbers

• Financial data

Additional data that might have been impacted:

• Driver’s license numbers

• Payment card information

• Passport/government identification

• Taxpayer-identification numbers

• Dates of birth

• Digital signatures

“We take our commitment to our clients and this community very seriously. In keeping with that commitment, we are formally notifying clients and other affected individuals impacted by this data breach and offering free credit monitoring, identity protection services, and identity theft insurance,” said Alison Brunner, CEO of the Law Foundation.