Ride the Lightning

Whiteford, Taylor and Preston Issues Notice of Data Incident

May 11, 2023

Dark Reading reported on May 8 that, Whiteford, Taylor and Preston had issued a notice of data incident as follows:

“On or about May 11, 2022, Whiteford Taylor & Preston, LLP (“Whiteford”) became aware of a potential unauthorized access into the Whiteford email account of one of its attorneys, despite our robust multi-factor authentication and other security measures and safeguards. This may have resulted in some sensitive personal information and legal communications being accessed by an unknown third party. Whiteford has worked diligently to determine what happened and what information was involved as a result of this incident.

Upon learning of the incident, Whiteford immediately commenced a third-party forensic investigation and determined the incident was limited to the time period between April 11, 2022 and May 11, 2022 and affected 1,206 individuals. The investigation determined that the types of information which may have been affected was different for each individual but may have included: names, mailing addresses, dates of birth, social security numbers, financial information, health information and certain privileged legal communications.

Whiteford provided notice, by mail, to 1,139 individuals whose data may have been affected and for whom it had viable contact information. Whiteford is issuing this press release to notify the balance, i.e., 67 individuals, for whom we could not locate viable contact information despite using reasonable efforts. For this reason, Whiteford is taking the added step of issuing this press release and placing a notice on its website to ensure that all affected persons have the necessary information to protect their personal information. Additional information is also provided at www.whitefordlaw.com.

Whiteford stresses that, as of this writing, it has not received any reports from individuals of related misuse, identity theft or fraud since the date of the incident. As data incidents are increasingly common, Whiteford encourages you to always remain vigilant, monitor your accounts, and immediately report any suspicious activity or suspected misuse of your personal information.

Whiteford mailed notification letters to potentially affected individuals for whom it has viable contact information on January 24, 2023, March 24, 2023 and May 2, 2023. The letters provided a toll-free number that individuals can call to learn more about the incident. The call center can be reached at 1-800-405-6108, and is available Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm EDT.

Whiteford recognizes this may cause an inconvenience for affected individuals. We value the trust you place in us when you provide information to us.”

SOURCE Whiteford Taylor & Preston LLP

Sharon D. Nelson, Esq., President, Sensei Enterprises, Inc.
3975 University Drive, Suite 225, Fairfax, VA 22030
Email:  Phone: 703-359-0700
Digital Forensics/Cybersecurity/Information Technology
https://senseient.com
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