Turke & Strauss LLP, a leading data breach law firm, is investigating California Public Employees’ Retirement System, which does business as CalPERS, regarding its recent data breach. The CalPERS data breach involved sensitive personal identifiable information belonging to an undetermined number of individuals.
ABOUT CALIFORNIA PUBLIC EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM D/B/A CALPERS:
CalPERS is a government administration company offering retirement and health security for state, school, and public agency members who invest their lifework in public service. Additionally, CalPERS employs over 2,800 individuals. Founded in 1932, CalPERS pension fund serves more than 2 million members in the retirement system and administers benefits for more than 1.5 million members and their families. Headquartered in Sacramento, California, CalPERS has become the largest defined-benefit public pension in the United States.
WHAT HAPPENED?
On June 6, 2023, CalPERS discovered that one of its third-party service providers, PBI Research Services/Berwyn Group, had experienced a data breach in which the sensitive personal identifiable information and protected health information in its systems may have been accessed. Through its investigation, PBI Research Services/Berwyn Group determined that an unauthorized actor may have accessed CalPERS’ sensitive personal identifiable information and protected health information on or around May 29, 2023 through a vulnerability in the MOVEit file transfer application. On June 22, 2023, CalPERS began contacting individuals whose information may have been impacted. The exact type of personal information has not been made publicly available by CalPERS. However, according to state reporting guidelines, “personal information” can include the following types of information:
- Name
- Social Security number
- Driver’s license number or other government issued identification number
- Financial information
- Account passwords or other access codes for financial accounts
- Biometric data
- Genetic information
- Health records, including medical diagnosis, treatment or health insurance policy number
If you received a data breach notification letter from CalPERS:
We would like to speak with you about your rights and potential legal remedies in response to this data breach. Please fill out the form, below, or contact us at (608) 237-1775 or sam@turkestrauss.com.
If you were impacted by the CalPERS data breach, you may consider taking the following steps to protect your personal information.
- Carefully review any breach notice and retain a copy;
- Enroll in any free credit monitoring services provided by California Public Employees’ Retirement System d/b/a CalPERS;
- Change passwords and security questions for online accounts;
- Regularly review account statements for signs of fraud or unauthorized activity;
- Monitor credit reports for signs of identity theft; and
- Contact a credit bureau(s) to request a temporary fraud alert.