According to Fidelity Investments, over 77,000 people have been affected by data breaches

Fidelity Investments, a Boston-based multinational financial services company, announced that the personal information of over 77,000 customers was exposed after its systems were hacked in August.

As one of the world’s largest asset managers with $14.1 trillion in assets under management and $5.5 trillion in assets under management, Fidelity employs over 75,000 people in 11 countries across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

In a filing with the Maine Attorney General’s Office, the company said an unknown attacker stole data between August 17 and 19 using “two customer accounts they had recently set up.”

“We discovered this activity on August 19 and took immediate action to block access. An investigation was immediately initiated with the assistance of third-party security experts,” Fidelity said in data breach notifications sent to affected individuals.

“The information received from the third party affected a small portion of our customers. Please note that this incident did not involve access to your Fidelity account(s).”

Fidelity added that the incident exposed the data of 77,099 customers, but has not yet disclosed what personal information was stolen in the data breach, other than names and other personal identifiers (as disclosed to the Maine Attorney General).).

When asked how the attacker was able to access thousands of customers’ data through two previously created accounts, Michael Aalto, head of external corporate communications at Fidelity, told BleepingComputer that they were not allowed to share this information, adding: “They don’t have any Accounts viewed.”Customer information viewed”.

While Fidelity says there is no evidence that the stolen customer data was misused, the company is offering those affected free TransUnion credit monitoring and identity recovery services for two years.

“In addition to enrolling in credit monitoring and identity restoration services, it is always a good idea to stay alert for fraudulent activity or identity theft by regularly checking your statements and other accounts, monitoring your credit reports, and reporting any suspicious events promptly. Please report your activities “Your financial institution (if applicable), local law enforcement, or applicable government agency,” it also said for affected customers.