Data breaches are like a new thing that is becoming more and more common these days, and a lot of companies and banks are facing this issue year after year. And amid all that, you hear about the Evolve Bank and Trust Data Breach Lawsuit, and this makes you wonder, like if your data has been leaked, what this means for you. If you’re into that dilemma and want to know more about this case for now, then just keep on reading.
How Did This Evolve Bank And Trust Data Breach Lawsuit Even Got Going?
Well, the things you may be hearing about this whole mess in the mainstream media headlines is real, like the actual trouble started when some hackers got into the systems of Evolve Bank in early 2024. Talking in more specific terms here, see, it was a ransomware group called LockBit that was able to exploit a vulnerability in a third-party software provider, Synapse, to get access to the systems of Evolve between February and May 2024.
And? Oh, you might not like that…
It is true that Synapse may not be very well-known among the general public, but it had quite a substantial influence in the background. In this very niche market, actually, it was essentially a partnership platform that connected fintech applications (those “save and invest” or “get paid early” apps) with banks such as Evolve. And this was kinda the opportunity for the hackers when they say that Synapse went bankrupt and everything went chaotic, they took advantage of it just like that.
Sure, Evolve even admitted that they sensed something wrong or strange was going on in May 2024, and just a month later, they came up and said it was a data breach.
It is true that your (customers’) direct credit cards or bank withdrawals weren’t affected in this data breach, but don’t think that it won’t impact you in the future because the data that was leaked was highly private in nature, like names, Social Security numbers, bank account details, driver’s license numbers, and contact information.
What Exactly Did People Sue Evolve For?
Just like any other data breach case out there, not a single doubt in the fact that once the breach got public, there was a massive wave of understandably mad people. And sure enough, later down the line, a lot of complaints and legal cases started to pile up.
It’s not like there were just one or two cases. Nah! More than 30 class action lawsuits were brought by different groups in almost every state. After all, they were consolidated into one single huge case titled In Re: Evolve Bank & Trust Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, which got the attention of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee.
If you study the cases that have come up so far, you’ll see how the plaintiffs, or the people who brought the lawsuits, accused Evolve Bank of several major issues:
There are three major groups of allegations that the plaintiffs made against Evolve Bank: insufficient cybersecurity measures, delay in notifying customers after the breach, and improper use of customers’ data for the bank’s benefit without adequate security.
So far, the bank, Evolve, has clearly said that they are not in the wrong and it wasn’t their fault, but no matter what they say, these class action lawsuits are a reality.
The Mess Is Basically Over
No matter how big of a drama there was and how it must have felt knowing about it all, but the relaxing thing (or just a little bit relaxing thing) is that this case has now come to a settlement. Yup!
Like, sure, the bank went as far as to call themselves “innocent” in this matter, but nevertheless, they agreed to pay about $11.8 million in compensation, and for now, that is somewhat enough to do some good eventually for the customers whose data was leaked.
