Fidelity Confirms Data Breach Affecting Over 77,000 Customers

According to Cointelegraph, Fidelity Investments has confirmed a data breach that compromised the personal information of over 77,000 of its customers. On October 9, Fidelity filed a report with Maine’s Attorney General, revealing that 77,099 customers were impacted by the breach, a small fraction of its 51.5 million customer base. The breach occurred between August 17 and 19, when an attacker accessed customer names and other personal identifiers using two recently established customer accounts. Fidelity terminated the unauthorized access on August 19 upon discovering the breach. The $5 trillion asset manager stated that it received assistance from external security experts to resolve the issue and emphasized that no Fidelity accounts were accessed by the third party. In a sample letter sent to the affected customers, Fidelity announced that it is offering a free credit monitoring and identity restoration service for two years to detect any unusual activity that may affect their personal financial situation. Impacted customers will need to enroll with credit reporting company TransUnion Interactive. Fidelity also advised customers to remain vigilant for fraudulent activity or identity theft by regularly reviewing their statements. This incident marks Fidelity’s fourth data breach in the last 12 months, with previous breaches occurring on March 4, March 18, and July 19. Fidelity did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Fidelity is among several asset managers to launch spot Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) ETFs in the US this year. The Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) has accumulated nearly $10 billion in flows since its launch on January 11, 2024, while the Fidelity Ethereum Fund (FETH) has taken in $445 million in flows since July 23. Other notable data breaches this year include those suffered by ChatGPT creator OpenAI and telecommunications services firm AT&T, with more than 100 million customers affected in AT&T’s case.