American financial giant Fidelity has reported a breach of personal information affecting thousands of its clients. According to a recent filing with the Maine Attorney General's Office, the trillion-dollar asset manager notified 77,099 individuals impacted by a data breach that occurred in August.

Details of the Data Breach

Fidelity indicated that unauthorized individuals gained access to customer information by creating new accounts. However, clarity regarding the exact nature of the incident and the specific data that was compromised remains elusive. The company detected this activity on August 19 and promptly terminated access.

“Between August 17 and August 19, a third party accessed specific information using two customer accounts. We detected this incident on August 19 and immediately shut down access. With the help of external security experts, an investigation was launched. The information obtained pertained to a small subset of our customers.”

Michael Aalto, Fidelity's head of external corporate communications, stated that the incident did not allow unauthorized access to accounts, nor were funds jeopardized.

“They did not view accounts. They viewed customer information.”

Measures Offered to Customers

Fidelity is providing affected clients with two years of identity protection services and recommends they closely monitor their financial activities for signs of fraud. The company continues to implement additional measures to enhance data security.

Such data breaches pose a significant concern for large financial institutions. It is crucial to continuously develop new strategies and conduct regular audits to ensure customer safety.