1.6 million hit in massive insurance data breach — full names, addresses, SSNs and more exposed

Even if you use strong, complex passwords and know how to spot the signs of a phishing attack, your personal, financial and even health data can still end up in the hands of hackers as the result of a data breach.

To make matters worse, the company that got hacked might not even be one you personally do business with like what just happened with Texas-based Landmark Admin. As reported by BleepingComputer, the third-party administrator (TPA) for life insurance and annuity companies has revealed that the fallout from the data breach it suffered last year is actually worse than we previously thought.

Back in October, I covered this data breach which occurred in May of 2024 and at that time, it was believed that 800,000 people were impacted by it. Now though, in an updated filing with the Maine Attorney General’s Office, Landmark Admin says that the number of affected individuals is almost double that.

Here’s everything you need to know about this data breach, what to do if you’re impacted and some tips and tricks on how you can stay safe following a major security incident like this one.

Personal, financial and health data exposed

Back in May of last year, Landmark Admin detected suspicious activity on its network. The company then shut down its IT systems and disabled remote access to prevent this cyberattack from spreading further.

From there, Landmark Admin worked with a third-party cybersecurity firm to investigate this incident to determine if any data was stolen during the attack. As it turns out, the hackers behind the attack accessed all sorts of personal, financial and health data, including:

• Full names
• Home addresses
• Social Security numbers
• Tax identification numbers
• Driver's license numbers
• State-issued identification cards
• Passport numbers
• Financial account numbers
• Medical information
• Dates of birth
• Health insurance policy numbers
• Life and annuity policy information

It’s worth noting though that the types of data that were exposed vary for each impacted individual. So while one person might have had their personal information exposed, another may have had their medical information exposed.

Last year Landmark Admin believed that approximately 806,519 people had their data exposed as a result of this breach. Now though, the company has revealed that the number of affected individuals is actually much higher and is closer to 1,613,773 people. Since Landmark Admin’s forensic investigation is still ongoing, the final number of impacted individuals could be even higher.

How to stay safe after a data breach

Landmark Admin is planning to notify all of the people whose data was caught up in this breach by mail and this is typically how companies inform affected individuals that a breach has taken place. Once they receive this data breach notification, they will then have 90 days to ask any questions or raise concerns through a dedicated helpline.

To soften the blow while keeping impacted individuals safe from scams and other cyberattacks using their stolen data, Landmark Admin is offering free access to one of the best identity theft protection services for an entire year. This will be through the identity theft provider CyberScan and in addition to identity and credit monitoring, affected individuals will also be eligible for up to $1 million in identity theft insurance if they happen to fall victim to identity theft as a result of this breach.

If you’re worried that your personal, financial or medical data may have been exposed in this data breach, you can call the helpline at 1-844-428-5109 to find out more. Likewise, if your insurance provider works with Landmark Admin, you’re going to want to keep a close eye on your mailbox as the data breach notification sent out by the company will provide you with the necessary steps and potentially a code to sign up for CyberScan’s identity theft protection.

For those who are impacted by this breach, you’re going to want to be extra careful when checking your inbox, messages, social media accounts and even when answering your phone going forward. The reason for this is that hackers often launch targeted phishing attacks using the sensitive data stolen in a breach like this one. With all of this info in hand, they can easily craft phishing emails that appear legitimate or impersonate someone important over the phone.

Besides taking Landmark Admin up on its offer for identity theft protection, you’re also going to want to carefully check in on your financial accounts for signs of fraud. At the same time, you might also want to consider freezing your credit or locking your Social Security number since scammers may try to take out loans in your name.

Dealing with a data breach is never easy but by taking the right actions early, you can avoid becoming a victim to identity theft which can often take months or even years to recover from. I’ll be keeping a close eye on this breach myself and will update this story if and when I learn more.

More from Tom's Guide

• T-Mobile is starting to send out data breach settlement payments for up to $25K — see if you qualify
• 12 computer security mistakes you're probably making — and what to do instead
• Hackers are using fake Google Play Store pages to infect Android phones with a dangerous trojan