Penalty Amount
$60,000
Consumers Affected
6,232
New York Attorney General Letitia James settled with public accounting firm Wojeski & Company over two data breaches in 2023 and 2024 that exposed personal information of over 4,700 New York residents, including social security numbers and medical benefits. The firm failed to implement adequate data security measures, did not encrypt sensitive data, and delayed notifying affected consumers of the breaches for over a year. Wojeski must pay $60,000 in penalties and implement enhanced cybersecurity measures including encryption, incident response plans, and employee training.
Wojeski must pay a $60,000 monetary penalty. The firm is required to adopt and maintain a comprehensive information security program that includes encrypting all personal information, maintaining a personal data inventory, implementing account management and authentication processes, establishing a security vulnerability correction program, creating an incident response plan with timely consumer notice requirements, and providing cybersecurity training to all employees. Affected individuals were offered one year of free credit monitoring.
In-house legal teams should review all vendor agreements, particularly with accounting firms and other service providers handling sensitive consumer personal information, to ensure they include robust data security requirements, including mandatory encryption of sensitive data like social security numbers and health information. Contracts should specify strict breach notification timelines that comply with applicable state laws and require vendors to maintain comprehensive data security programs, incident response plans, and employee cybersecurity training. Additionally, contracts should prohibit unauthorized sharing or transmission of personal data to external parties, and require vendors to maintain accurate inventories of all personal data they process. Teams should also verify that vendor agreements include audit rights to confirm compliance with security obligations.
Entity
Wojeski & Company
Industry
Financial Services"Wojeski & Company (Wojeski)"
"Wojeski must pay $60,000 in penalties"
"suffered two cybersecurity incidents that exposed the private information of more than 4,700 New Yorkers"
"Wojeski did not take proper measures to secure their clients’ personal information"
"customers’ social security numbers were not encrypted in parts of the company’s network"
"Wojeski took over a year to notify victims of the data breach, despite being required to notify victims soon after a breach"
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$18.0M
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