Data breach in December cyberattack exposes personal information of 44K individuals in the U.S.
In late 2023, several companies in the real estate and lending sectors, including First American Financial and Fidelity National Financial, experienced cyberattacks. The breaches had significant financial and operational implications for the affected companies.
First American Financial, a title insurance firm, disclosed a data breach in December 2019. According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, outside threat actors stole and encrypted data in the breach. The company is in the process of notifying customers about the breach but has not detailed what specific information was compromised.
The breach primarily exposed documents stored in a web-based customer service application without adequate security controls. The leaked data included sensitive personal and financial information such as bank account numbers, statements, mortgage and tax records, Social Security numbers, wire transaction receipts, and drivers license images. The breach affected approximately 885 million documents related to real estate transactions.
The attack on First American temporarily disrupted company operations, as the firm took its systems offline following the cyberattack. However, First American's CEO, Ken DeGiorgio, stated in February that the company did not expect a significant long-term impact from the attack. As of now, it is unclear how much of the financial impact from the cyberattack will be covered by insurance.
Revenue for First American's fourth-quarter, which ended on December 31, was $1.4 billion, a 15% decrease from the prior-year quarter. The breach materially impacted the company's earnings.
In a separate incident, Mr. Cooper, a loan servicing firm, was hit by a cyberattack in late October. The attack exposed data on every current and former customer of the company. The series of attacks temporarily prevented millions of consumers from making loan payments. No updated or more detailed information about a December cyberattack on First American Financial in 2024 or 2025 was found in the provided search results.
The cyberattacks on Fidelity National Financial occurred before the attack on First American Financial. In November, it was confirmed that Fidelity National Financial experienced a cyberattack affecting 1.3 million customers. The series of attacks in late 2023 also affected companies related to real estate or lending.
As cyberattacks continue to pose a significant threat to businesses, it is crucial for companies to prioritise cybersecurity and implement robust security measures to protect sensitive customer data.
Cybersecurity measures are crucial for businesses in the finance and real estate sectors, as shown by First American Financial, who experienced a data breach in December 2019. The breach, which exposed sensitive personal and financial information, had significant financial and operational implications for the company, affecting approximately 885 million documents related to real estate transactions and causing a 15% decrease in the company's fourth-quarter revenue.