MalwareRetail & ConsumerRetailRansomwareData EncryptedCustomer Data InvolvedIdentity (basic)Government IDMediumContained

Phil Smith Automotive Group

bd_429e89d3c30c21cc · schema v1 · pii pii-v1

Severity

Medium

Discovered

Feb 1, 2025

Filed

Jul 31, 2025

To disclose

26 weeks

Affected

19state residents only

Linked

6 filings

Confidence

66%

Phil Smith Automotive Group experienced a ransomware attack in early February 2025, resulting in unauthorized access to IT systems. Personal information, including names, Social Security numbers, and driver's license numbers, of 19 New Hampshire residents may have been accessed. The company notified the FBI, engaged cybersecurity specialists, and is offering two years of credit monitoring to affected individuals.

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Leak gap clock⏱ Leak >90d26 weeks discovery → filing

Incident timeline

discovery → filing · 26 weeks / 180 days

Feb 1, 2025

Begins

Feb 1, 2025

Discovered

Jul 31, 2025

Filed

vs. sector median

+18 wks slower

This filing is one of 6 about the same incident.View merged incident

A leak claim by dragonforce about this victim predates this filing by 173 days.View originating leak claim

Linked disclosures

Why this link?

Ransomware claims (2)

Leak Sitedragonforcebd_5d9115e8cfa0a33c2025-03-29 · +124dVerified by operator
Leak Sitedragonforcebd_6432d7de6f4e8ec32025-02-08 · +173dVerified by operator

Regulatory filings (3) · sorted by filing gap

Maine State AGbd_30dee3ff79df90bb2025-07-31Candidate
Massachusetts State AGbd_68fa836388ef45bb2025-07-31Verified
Indiana State AGbd_fb43a564bb05bb3e2025-07-31Verified

Name: Phil Smith Automotive Group
norm: phil smith automotive group
Domain: philsmithauto.com

Name: Phil Smith Automotive Group
norm: phil smith automotive group
Domain: philsmithauto.com
Industry: Retail & Consumerllm

Discovered: Feb 1, 2025
Breach occurred: Feb 1, 2025 – Feb 28, 2025
Undetected for: 0 daysoccurrence → discovery
Materiality determined: —
Notification sent: Jul 31, 2025
Affected individuals: 19state-resident count only
Data types: Identity (basic)Government ID
Data elements: Social Security number
Attack vector: Ransomware
MITRE ATT&CK: T1486 Data Encrypted for Impact
Threat actor: ExternalFinancial
Regulator citations: Notified U.S. federal law enforcement, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

During the incident: Took protective actions to stop the unauthorized access
Notified U.S. federal law enforcement, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Assessed the security of our network and systems
Launched an investigation with the assistance of leading cybersecurity specialists
Installed monitoring devices on our IT systems to detect suspicious activity
Providing potentially affected individuals two (2) years of complimentary credit protection and monitoring services through Cyberscout
Changes made: Working to implement additional safeguards
Evaluate and deploy robust security protocols
Continuous monitoring
Staff training
Source: Quoted from the filing itself, not independently verified.

Time to disclose: 26 weeks(180 days from discovery to filing)
Compliance flags: Leak >90d
Discovery-date grounding: letter-groundedThe discovery date is the detection date narrated in the notification letter — the defensible tier.

Status: No extraction artifact recorded for this disclosure.

Filing propagation · 4 filings · 4 states

View merged incident ↗

Maine State AGJul 31 · first

Massachusetts State AGJul 31 · first

Indiana State AGJul 31 · first

New Hampshire State AGJul 31 · first · this page

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://mm.nh.gov/files/uploads/doj/remote-docs/phil-smith-automotive-group-20250731.pdf
DisclosureLens links to the originating regulator URL — full filing bodies are not redistributed from public surfaces (§4.5).
Filed at: Jul 31, 2025
Raw hash: 50f19357a3daa40c6a638b5164476db38749d05d907947acb6e1b000f1709519

Linked disclosures

Ransomware claims (2)

Regulatory filings (3) · sorted by filing gap

Reporting entityPhil Smith Automotive Group

Victim entityPhil Smith Automotive Group

Incidentdiscovered Feb 1, 2025

Stated responseTook protective actions to stop the unauthorized access

ComplianceLeak >90d

Extraction provenanceno artifact recorded

Source provenancemm.nh.gov