Collabera Hit with Class Action Over June 2020 Data Breach Reportedly Affecting 16,000 Employees

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Collabera Inc. faces a proposed class action over a data breach that reportedly affected as many as 16,000 of the IT staffing company’s employees.

Filed in New Jersey federal court, the 27-page case claims the breach was a direct result of Collabera’s failure to maintain proper data security policies and procedures and has put employees at a heightened risk of identity theft and fraud.

Per the complaint, the defendant discovered on June 8, 2020 that an unauthorized third party had installed in its network system malware consistent with a ransomware attack. Through the breach, the hacker(s) gained access to employees’ personal and financial information, including first and last names, mailing addresses, telephone numbers, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, employee benefits and verification information, passport/visa information, and e-mail addresses, the suit says.

Per the case, Collabera’s database contained a security flaw that “permitted anyone to access” employees’ personal identifying information. The lawsuit claims Collabera should have been aware of the importance of safeguarding employees’ sensitive personal data yet failed to implement “commonly accepted security standards” used within the industry and recommended by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

“Nonetheless, Defendant failed to upgrade and maintain its data security systems in a meaningful way so as to prevent the Data Breach,” the complaint states. “Had Defendant properly maintained its systems and adequately protected them, it could have prevented the Data Breach.”

Collabera’s security missteps were compounded by the fact that the company waited almost a month after discovering the breach before beginning to notify affected consumers on July 10, 2020, the suit further claims.

The lawsuit argues that the two years of free credit monitoring Collabera offered to employees is “insufficient” to protect them from harm associated with the breach given the often “substantial time lag” between when damage occurs and when it is discovered. According to the case, affected consumers have suffered “irreparable damage” that will likely continue into the future as a result of Collabera’s alleged data security failures.

The case says the plaintiff has been “inundated with phishing attempts via text messages, telephone calls and emails” since the Collabera data breach as a result of the man’s data being stolen and misused.

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