There’s a follow-up to a breach previously reported on DataBreaches. From the NYS Attorney General’s Office today:
NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today secured $500,000 from auto insurance company, Noblr, for failing to protect the personal information of more than 80,000 New Yorkers as part of a data breach. The data breach was part of an industry-wide campaign by scammers to steal consumers’ personal information, including driver’s license numbers and dates of birth, from online automobile insurance quoting applications. The scammers then used some of the stolen driver’s license information to file fraudulent unemployment claims at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to Noblr, Attorney General James also held GEICO and Travelers accountable for failing to protect New Yorkers’ personal information, bringing the total amount secured from auto insurance companies for cybersecurity failures to $5.6 million.
“Auto insurance companies offer drivers protection during emergencies, but they must also protect their personal information from hackers and scammers,” said Attorney General James. “Noblr failed to secure its data systems making it easy for scammers to steal New Yorkers’ information and use some of the stolen information to fraudulently obtain unemployment benefits. Today we are holding Noblr accountable for being reckless with New Yorkers’ personal data and reminding all companies that they must prioritize cybersecurity.”
Noblris an insurance company that allows consumers to obtain a price quote through an online insurance quoting tool. Noblr’s quoting tool exposed full, plaintext driver’s license numbers in a number of ways, including on the backend of its website and in PDFs generated when a purchase was made. Noblr also did not block users from entering the personal information of New York residents, even though Noblr does not offer insurance products in New York.
Noblr discovered scammers exploiting the prefill vulnerability in January 2021. Noblr did not monitor its site traffic in real time causing delays in detecting the attack. This failure to monitor site traffic also made it difficult to distinguish malicious activity from legitimate consumer inquiries. The attack on Noblr’s auto-quoting tool exposed the data of approximately 80,000 New York residents.
The Office of the Attorney General’s investigation determined that the insurance company failed to adopt reasonable safeguards to protect private information. In addition to paying $500,000 in penalties, Noblr is required to enhance its data security, including by:
- Enhancing its web application defenses;
- Maintaining a comprehensive information security program designed to protect the security, confidentiality, and integrity of private information;
- Developing and maintaining a data inventory of private information and ensuring such information is protected by reasonable safeguards;
- Maintaining reasonable authentication procedures for access to private information; and
- Maintaining a logging and monitoring system to alert on suspicious activity within their systems.
Attorney General James has taken several actions to hold companies accountable for having poor cybersecurity and to improve data security practices. Last month, Attorney General James and DFS Superintendent Adrienne Harris secured $11.3 million from GEICO and Travelers for having poor data security. In October 2024, Attorney General James secured $2.25 million from a Capital Region health care provider for failing to protect the private information and medical data of New Yorkers. In August 2024, Attorney General James and a multistate coalition secured $4.5 from a biotech company for failing to protect patient data. In July, Attorney General James launched two privacy guides, a Business Guide to Website Privacy Controls and a Consumer Guide to Tracking on the Web, to help businesses and consumers protect themselves. In July, Attorney General James also issued a consumer alert to raise awareness about free credit monitoring and identity theft protection services available for millions of consumers impacted by the Change Healthcare data breach. In April 2023, Attorney General James released a comprehensive data security guide to help companies strengthen their data security practices. In January 2022, Attorney General James released a business guide for credential stuffing attacks that detailed how businesses could protect themselves and consumers.
This matter was led by Assistant Attorneys General Gena Feist and Laura Mumm, and former Assistant Attorneys General Hanna Baek and Ezra Sternstein, Data Security Analyst Nishaant Goswamy, and former Internet and Technology Analyst Joe Graham, under the supervision of Deputy Bureau Chief Clark Russell and Bureau Chief Kim Berger of the Bureau of Internet and Technology. Data analysis was provided by Data Analyst Casey Marescot and Data Scientist Blythe Davis, under the supervision of Deputy Director Gautam Sisodia, Director Victoria Khan, former Director Megan Thorsfeldt, and former Director Jonathan Werberg of the Research and Analytics Department. The Bureau of Internet and Technology is a part of the Division for Economic Justice, which is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General Chris D’Angelo and overseen by First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.