Mortgage giant LoanDepot faced a severe breach, exposing personal data of over 16 million customers. The security incident, first disclosed on January 8, revealed that an unauthorized third party gained access to sensitive information. CEO Frank Martell expressed regret, stating, ‘Unfortunately, we live in a world where these types of attacks are increasingly frequent and sophisticated.’ The breach, identified as a ransomware attack, poses a significant risk to affected customers, with the company working diligently to restore systems and offering free credit monitoring and identity protection services.
The attack, known as ransomware, is a type where hackers demand money for information. LoanDepot’s CEO, Frank Martell, expressed his apologies, saying, “Unfortunately, we live in a world where these types of attacks are increasingly frequent and sophisticated.“
Getting everything back to normal has been slow, causing trouble for customers trying to pay, check their accounts, or close mortgage deals. Though there’s been progress in bringing back online services, like customer portals and Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) features, the impact is bigger than just these disruptions.
On January 19, a customer named Daroya Isaiah filed a lawsuit against LoanDepot, saying the company didn’t tell everyone how many were affected or what personal info was taken. Isaiah has noticed more spam calls, strange credit report entries, and believes it’s linked to the data breach.
LoanDepot hasn’t commented on the lawsuit, but they admit the data breach and promise to let affected people know. They’re also offering free credit monitoring and identity protection to help reduce potential harm.
This incident shows how vulnerable financial companies are to online threats. As LoanDepot works on fixing everything, it’s a reminder of the need for strong online security in today’s digital financial world.
Read More: Carnegie Mellon University Faces Cybersecurity Crisis with Data Breach Affects 7000+
