CUSO Financial Services reports a data breach affecting the personal information of more than 75,000 people | Console and Associates, PC

On October 28, 2024, CUSO Financial Services, LP (“CUSO”) filed a data breach notification with the Maine Attorney General after discovering that an incident at a third-party service provider resulted in unauthorized access to a CUSO employee account. In this notice, CUSO explains that as a result of the incident, an unauthorized party gained access to confidential consumer information. After the investigation was completed, CUSO began sending data breach notification letters to all 75,116 individuals whose information was affected by the recent data security incident.

If you’ve been notified of a data breach by CUSO Financial Services, LP, it’s important to understand what’s at stake and what you can do about it. A data breach attorney can help you learn more about how to protect yourself from becoming a victim of fraud or identity theft, and discuss your legal options after a CUSO Financial Services data breach. To learn more, check out our recent piece on this topic here.

What caused the CUSO Financial Services data breach?

The CUSO Financial Services data breach was only recently announced, and more information is expected in the near future. However, CUSO’s filing with the Maine Attorney General contains important information about what led to the breach. According to this source, on January 19, 2024, CUSO became aware of suspicious activity by a third-party service provider that CUSO uses to archive communications required by FINRA.

In response, CUSO launched an investigation, ultimately confirming that an unauthorized person accessed a CUSO employee account between December 19, 2023 and January 19, 2024. It was later determined that an unauthorized party was able to access certain confidential information while in the employee’s account.

After learning that sensitive consumer data had been accessed by an unauthorized party, CUSO Financial Services reviewed the compromised files to determine what information was leaked and which consumers were affected. CUSO recently completed this review process.

On October 28, 2024, CUSO Financial Services sent personalized data breach letters to all those affected by the recent data security incident. While the public data breach letter on the Maine Attorney General’s website does not list the types of data that was breached, personalized data breach letters should provide victims with a list of what information belonging to them was compromised.

More information about CUSO Financial Services, LP

CUSO Financial Services, LP is a broker-dealer and subsidiary of Atria Wealth. Based in San Diego, California, CUSO specializes in serving credit unions and banks, as well as bank and credit union-owned broker-dealers. In October 2024, Atria Wealth, the parent company of CUSO, was acquired by LPL Financial. CUSO Financial Services employs more than 670 people and generates approximately $354 million in annual revenue.