Erie Insurance is making progress in recovering from a cybersecurity incident that occurred on June 8, although the company is still investigating whether any customer data was compromised. The Erie-based Fortune 500 company announced the information security event on June 8, prompting it to shut down its computer systems as a precautionary measure.
In a statement released on June 23, Erie Insurance said there is no evidence of a ransomware attack and no ongoing threat actor activity. However, the company did not rule out the possibility that data may have been affected. “We take these matters very seriously and are working diligently to identify what, if any, data may have been affected,” said Matthew Cummings, a company spokesman.
Erie Insurance has restored some of its systems and is working with law enforcement and leading cybersecurity experts to investigate the incident. The company’s proactive network and system outage, initiated on June 7, helped contain the threat. Customers can still file claims by contacting their agent or the company’s First Notice of Loss team at 800-367-3743, while customer care is available at 800-458-0811.
The incident at Erie Insurance is not an isolated case, as other insurance companies have faced similar cybersecurity challenges. Aflac reported a cyber attack on June 12, which was linked to a major cybercrime spree targeting the insurance industry. Philadelphia Insurance Companies also experienced a network outage over the weekend of June 9.
Erie Insurance’s cybersecurity incident comes during its 100th anniversary year. As of June 23, at least five class-action lawsuits have been filed against the company in U.S. District Court, alleging that it failed to implement adequate cybersecurity measures to protect customer data. The Erie Insurance website continues to display a notice about the network outage and information security incident.
