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Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) reported that 820,000 people were impacted by the Zacks Investment Research breach in its Q1 2023 analysis. That is ITRC’s reported figure—not a total stated in Zacks’ sample breach notice. Zacks said an unknown third party accessed certain records in an older database sometime between November 2021 and August 2022, and that the company discovered the incident on December 28, 2022.
What happened in the Zacks data breach?
According to Zacks Investment Research’s sample notice, an unknown third party gained unauthorized access to certain customer records in an older database. Zacks said the database involved customers who signed up for Zacks Elite between November 1999 and February 2005. The company placed the access window much later: sometime from November 2021 through August 2022, with discovery on December 28, 2022. Read the sample notice reproduced by the Delaware Department of Justice.
What information did Zacks say may have been accessed?
Zacks’ notice listed names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and passwords used for Zacks.com as information believed to have been accessed. The company said it had no reason to believe that credit-card details, other customer financial information, or other personal information was accessed. This describes what Zacks reported in its notice; it is not an independently verified inventory of all information taken.
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The 820,000 figure comes from the Identity Theft Resource Center’s Q1 2023 Data Breach Analysis, published April 13, 2023. ITRC listed Zacks Investment Research ninth among its top ten compromises reported in Q1 2023. The report says its data were entered into the ITRC notified database from January 7 through March 31, 2023, unless otherwise noted. Zacks’ sample notice does not state a nationwide total, so 820,000 should be attributed to ITRC rather than presented as a number given by Zacks.
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Why Delaware lists a different number
Delaware’s breach database lists 2,159 potentially affected Delaware residents, with a breach period of November 2021 through August 2022 and a report date of February 24, 2023. This is a state-specific notification count, not a competing national estimate. The two figures have different sources and scopes. See Delaware’s Data Security Breach Database.
What should you do if you may have had a Zacks account?
Zacks said it established a process to prevent the compromised password from being used to access a Zacks account, requiring a password change at the next login. Its notice also recommended changing passwords on other accounts wherever the same email address and password had been reused.
- Change any reused password. If you used the affected Zacks.com password on another service, change it there as well. Give every account a unique password.
- Monitor financial accounts and credit reports. Zacks recommended watching both for unexpected activity. The notice did not identify a monitoring provider or promise a particular service.
- Be cautious with breach-related messages. The notice warned recipients not to provide personal information in response to electronic communications about security breaches. Verify requests through an organization’s official website or known contact channel instead.
- Contact Zacks with questions using verified contact information. The sample notice supplied a phone number for questions; consult the notice itself rather than relying on an unsolicited message.
Zacks stated: “While we have found no indication that your personal information has been used inappropriately, we are providing you with this notice and steps you can take to help protect your information.” That is the company’s statement at the time of the notice, not a guarantee that information was never misused.
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Can you tell whether your account was affected?
The available notice describes the customer group associated with the older database, but it does not establish whether every person in that group received a notice or provide a public method for checking an individual account’s status. If you received a notice, follow its password guidance. If you did not, do not assume that confirms either inclusion or exclusion; contact Zacks through verified channels if you need to ask about your account.
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