Cetera Financial Group faces a lawsuit over a recently disclosed data breach tied to an employee email account.
The proposed class action, filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, alleges the wealth management firm failed to properly secure and safeguard personally identifiable information, which was "targeted, compromised and unlawfully accessed."
Cetera experienced the breach in July and notified potentially affected people last week, the company reported to state attorneys general. Cetera told affected consumers an investigation determined an unauthorized person gained access to the employee email account last summer, and that the company in January found that personal information was involved.
The company is offering those potentially affected free credit monitoring services for 12 or 24 months, a notice to Maine consumers said. It also said the investigation is ongoing.
Cetera doesn't comment on legal matters, a spokesperson told ThinkAdvisor by email Wednesday.
The lawsuit alleges negligence, breach of implied contract and other violations and asks the court to order Cetera to take several steps to delete and secure sensitive data and provide identity theft and fraud protection for class members for life.
Courtesy photo
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