MalwareProfessional ServicesProfessional ServicesRansomwareData EncryptedRansom DemandedIdentity (basic)Government IDPIIMediumContained

SmartStart Employment Screening, Inc.

bd_27e97a822e6e1362 · schema v1 · pii pii-v1

Severity

Medium

Discovered

Dec 18, 2020

Filed

Aug 24, 2021

To disclose

36 weeks

Affected

639state residents only

Linked

9 filings

Confidence

70%

Full breach record for SmartStart Employment Screening, Inc. →

SmartStart Employment Screening, Inc. notified the Washington AG of a cybersecurity incident discovered on Dec 18, 2020. Malware/ransomware encrypted data, affecting 639 WA residents. Notifications sent Aug 24, 2021. Remediation included forensic investigation and offering credit/identity monitoring via IDX.

J jump to incidentP pin to compareR raw source

Washington clock✗ WA AG >90d36 weeks discovery → filing

⚠ AG web formThe discovery date came from the AG web-form field, which is systematically later than the detection date stated in the letter. Treat the clock as indicative.

Incident timeline

discovery → filing · 36 weeks / 249 days

Dec 18, 2020

Discovered

Aug 24, 2021

Filed

vs. sector median

+18 wks slower

This filing is one of 9 about the same incident.View merged incident

Linked disclosures

Why this link?

Regulatory filings (8) · sorted by filing gap

Indiana State AGbd_97379d175ed5a5552021-08-24Verified
Montana State AGbd_bb3c6553e769b6d42021-08-24Verified
New Hampshire State AGbd_c24b30aeb03debab2021-08-24Verified
South Carolina State AGbd_0db3e2cd96640c932021-08-25 · +1dVerified

Show 4 more filings ↓up to 235d gap

California State AGbd_050d1847cd215db92021-08-27 · +3dVerified
Massachusetts State AGbd_5d1119173a1a1d702021-08-27 · +3dVerified
Maine State AGbd_79b8e613fe4dbbff2021-08-27 · +3dVerified
Illinois State AGbd_767e5f0a78a5cc602021-01-01 · +235dCandidate

Name: SmartStart Employment Screening, Inc.
norm: smartstart employment screening

Name: SmartStart Employment Screening, Inc.
norm: smartstart employment screening
Industry: Professional Servicesllm

Discovered: Dec 18, 2020
Materiality determined: —
Notification sent: Aug 24, 2021
Affected individuals: 639state-resident count only
Data types: PIIIdentity (basic)
Data elements: NameSocial Security number
WA-stated cause: Cyberattack
WA-stated duration: lifecycle Unknowndexposure Unknownd
WA-stated discovery: Found after the fact
Attack vector: Unknown
MITRE ATT&CK: T1486 Data Encrypted for Impact
Threat actor: ExternalFinancial
Regulator citations: Notified Washington Attorney General

During the incident: Consulted with cyber experts
Conducted extensive forensic investigation and data mining
Offered credit monitoring services
Offering identity protection services at no cost through IDX
Changes made: Made alterations to its cyber environment to help prevent similar incidents
Source: Quoted from the filing itself, not independently verified.

Time to disclose: 36 weeks(249 days from discovery to filing)
Compliance flags: WA AG >90d
Discovery-date grounding: AG web formThe discovery date came from the AG web-form field, which is systematically later than the detection date stated in the letter. Treat the clock as indicative.

Status: No extraction artifact recorded for this disclosure.

Filing propagation · 9 filings · 9 states

View merged incident ↗

Illinois State AGJan 1 · first

Indiana State AG+235d

Montana State AG+235d

New Hampshire State AG+235d

Washington State AG+235d · this page

South Carolina State AG+236d

California State AG+238d

Massachusetts State AG+238d

Maine State AG+238d

Pattern: first filing Jan 1 (IL), last Aug 27 (ME) — a 238-day rolling notification. Rolling spreads often mean counsel is filing as thresholds trip per state. Why this link?

Evidence ladder

Leak-site claim

Attacker assertion only. Establishes: claim date, group, alleged victim.

Press / market report

Unlocks: incident narrative, operational impact. Still no compliance clock.

State AG / regulator filingThis record

Unlocks: discovery date, data types, affected count, compliance clock.

SEC 8-K / victim statement

Unlocks: materiality, stated response, full audit trail. Ceiling removed.

Source URL: https://agportal-s3bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/databreach/BreachM10863.pdf
DisclosureLens links to the originating regulator URL — full filing bodies are not redistributed from public surfaces (§4.5).
Filed at: Aug 24, 2021
Raw hash: ea2c3dc9fa5c77f0a89624b23a7d89f7f60e3440ca848331c337ce57c000341d

Linked disclosures

Regulatory filings (8) · sorted by filing gap

Reporting entitySmartStart Employment Screening, Inc.

Victim entitySmartStart Employment Screening, Inc.

Incidentdiscovered Dec 18, 2020

Stated responseConsulted with cyber experts

ComplianceWA AG >90d

Extraction provenanceno artifact recorded

Source provenanceagportal-s3bucket.s3.amazonaws.com