Data Breach Potentially Affects 15,000 Mainers
PORTLAND, Maine (WGME) — A data breach has potentially exposed the personal information of more than 15,000 Maine residents. Notifications are currently being mailed out, approximately ten months after the breach was initially discovered.
According to a report filed with the Maine Attorney General, DISA Global Solutions, a national background check company, was the target of a cyberattack.
Letters from DISA state the cyber incident affected a “limited portion of their network.” The compromised data includes names and other personal information.
DISA has stated they have no evidence of misuse of the exposed information. The company is offering access to identity protection services to those affected by the breach.
This incident follows a trend; the CBS13 I-Team reported that more than 1.7 billion data breach notices were issued across the United States in 2024.
“Maine actually has one of, if not the best, data breach notice laws in the country,” stated James Lee of the ID Theft Resource Center. “We rely on it for a lot of information, because you have a very simple trigger. If one Mainer is impacted by a data breach notice, there has to be a data breach notice.”
Experts offer several steps to protect personal information:
- Freeze your credit.
- Use unique passwords for each account and transition to passkeys whenever possible.
- Enable multi-factor authentication on all accounts.
- Regularly monitor your accounts for any unauthorized activity.
If you receive a notification like the one from DISA Global Solutions, it’s important to act quickly. Change passwords immediately and take advantage of any provided credit monitoring services.
