HackingProfessional ServicesFinancial ServicesProfessional ServicesStolen CredentialsCustomer Data InvolvedData ExfiltratedIdentity (basic)Government IDFinancial accountMediumContained

Berard & Associates, CPAs, P.C.

bd_a4a0bdc6bc4f2263 · schema v1 · pii pii-v1

Severity

Medium

Discovered

Feb 13, 2017

Filed

Apr 6, 2017

To disclose

7 weeks

Affected · nationwide

6375 in this filing

Confidence

66%

Berard & Associates, CPAs, P.C. notified the NH AG of a data incident where an unauthorized party accessed 637 client documents via SmartVault using an employee's credentials on Aug 11-12, 2016. Discovered Feb 13, 2017. Data included names, SSNs, DOBs, and financial account numbers. Affected 5 NH residents. Remediation included forensic investigation, credit monitoring, and vendor evaluation.

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Incident timeline

undetected · 186 days

discovery → filing · 7 weeks / 52 days

Aug 11, 2016

Begins

Feb 13, 2017

Discovered

Apr 6, 2017

Filed

vs. sector median

10 wks faster

Tracked as a single-filing incident — the only disclosure on record for this event so far.Confirmed637 affectedView incident

Name: Berard & Associates, CPAs, P.C.
norm: berard & associates
Domain: berardtrans.com
Industry: Professional Services

Name: Berard & Associates, CPAs, P.C.
norm: berard & associates
Domain: berardtrans.com
Industry: Professional Services
Industry: Professional ServicesllmFinancial Servicesllm

Discovered: Feb 13, 2017
Breach occurred: Aug 11, 2016 – Aug 12, 2016
Undetected for: 186 daysoccurrence → discovery
Materiality determined: —
Notification sent: Apr 13, 2017
Affected individuals: 637state + nationwide
Data types: Identity (basic)Government IDFinancial account
Attack vector: Unauthorized Access
MITRE ATT&CK: T1078 Valid Accounts
Threat actor: ExternalFinancial
Regulator citations: Notified by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regarding fraudulent tax filingsNotified New Hampshire Attorney GeneralCooperating with New York State Police Department
Initial access: valid_credentials

During the incident: Retained an industry-leading forensic expert to investigate
Notified SmartVault of the findings
Sent notification letters to affected New Hampshire residents
Offered one year of free identity monitoring services through Kroll
Cooperating with the investigative efforts of the New York State Police Department
Changes made: Evaluating other options for storage and transfer of financial documents with clients
Continuing to invest into security measures designed to safeguard clients' documents and information
Source: Quoted from the filing itself, not independently verified.

Time to disclose: 7 weeks(52 days from discovery to filing)
Compliance flags: — (clock not assessable for this source)

Status: No extraction artifact recorded for this disclosure.

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/berard-20170406.pdf
DisclosureLens links to the originating regulator URL — full filing bodies are not redistributed from public surfaces (§4.5).
Filed at: Apr 6, 2017
Raw hash: 7000214014fa344929ccd703bab2435afb9e4681e3d65885c5d99a1d301602ea

Reporting entityBerard & Associates, CPAs, P.C.

Victim entityBerard & Associates, CPAs, P.C.

Incidentdiscovered Feb 13, 2017

Stated responseRetained an industry-leading forensic expert to investigate

Complianceclock not assessable

Extraction provenanceno artifact recorded

Source provenancemm.nh.gov