MalwareProfessional ServicesProfessional ServicesRansomwareData ExfiltratedRansom DemandedCustomer Data InvolvedGovernment IDIdentity (basic)MediumContained

Payne and Fears LLP

bd_a73c76c399836f3c · schema v1 · pii pii-v1

Severity

Medium

Discovered

Mar 8, 2021

Filed

Apr 30, 2021

To disclose

8 weeks

Affected

1state residents only

Linked

4 filings

Confidence

67%

Full breach record for Payne and Fears LLP →

Payne and Fears, LLP, a law firm, notified the New Hampshire Attorney General of a ransomware attack discovered on March 8, 2021. The incident resulted in unauthorized access to the network and the potential exfiltration of one New Hampshire resident's personal information, including a Social Security number and passport number. The firm engaged forensic experts and the FBI, and provided the affected individual with 12 months of credit monitoring through Experian. Notification to the AG was filed on April 30, 2021.

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Incident timeline

discovery → filing · 8 weeks / 53 days

Mar 8, 2021

Discovered

Apr 30, 2021

Filed

vs. sector median

11 wks faster

This filing is one of 4 about the same incident.View merged incident

Linked disclosures

Why this link?

Regulatory filings (3) · sorted by filing gap

Massachusetts State AGbd_60e89de0aefee25b2021-04-30Verified
Indiana State AGbd_e2eaa1243881d7e12021-04-30Verified
Maine State AGbd_891614f06a1a49b22021-04-21 · +9dCandidate

Name: Payne and Fears LLP
norm: payne and fears

Name: Payne and Fears LLP
norm: payne and fears
Industry: Professional Servicesllm

Discovered: Mar 8, 2021
Materiality determined: —
Notification sent: Apr 30, 2021
Affected individuals: 1state-resident count only
Data types: Government IDIdentity (basic)
Data elements: Social Security number
Attack vector: Ransomware
MITRE ATT&CK: T1486 Data Encrypted for Impact
Threat actor: ExternalFinancial
Regulator citations: Notified New Hampshire Attorney General's Consumer Protection BureauProvided notice to other states Attorney Generals

During the incident: Hired third-party forensic experts to conduct a thorough investigation
Contacted the FBI to seek assistance with the incident
Engaged an e-Discovery firm to begin a comprehensive review
Provided free access to credit monitoring services for at least twelve months (12), through Experian
Provided guidance on ways to protect against identity theft and fraud
Provided contact information for consumer reporting agencies
Provided information on how to obtain a free credit report and place a fraud alert and security freeze
Provided notice to any applicable government regulator, official, and other states Attorney Generals
Changes made: Working to implement any necessary additional cybersecurity safeguards and training for its employees
Source: Quoted from the filing itself, not independently verified.

Time to disclose: 8 weeks(53 days from discovery to filing)
Compliance flags: — (clock not assessable for this source)

Status: No extraction artifact recorded for this disclosure.

Filing propagation · 4 filings · 4 states

View merged incident ↗

Maine State AGApr 21 · first

Massachusetts State AG+9d

Indiana State AG+9d

New Hampshire State AG+9d · this page

Pattern: first filing Apr 21 (ME), last Apr 30 (NH) — a 9-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://mm.nh.gov/files/uploads/doj/remote-docs/payne-fears-20210430.pdf
DisclosureLens links to the originating regulator URL — full filing bodies are not redistributed from public surfaces (§4.5).
Filed at: Apr 30, 2021
Raw hash: 65f63e7861e2d6e89bfba5cee0cb5be95aa70faf0bc0ffe6f15f84dadd396fd1

Linked disclosures

Regulatory filings (3) · sorted by filing gap

Reporting entityPayne and Fears LLP

Victim entityPayne and Fears LLP

Incidentdiscovered Mar 8, 2021

Stated responseHired third-party forensic experts to conduct a thorough investigation

Complianceclock not assessable

Extraction provenanceno artifact recorded

Source provenancemm.nh.gov