Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Discloses Data Breach Following Incident at Anonymous Service Provider | Console and Associates, PC

On August 28, 2024, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (“MetLife”) filed a data breach notification with the Montana Attorney General after determining that one of the company's service providers appeared to have been the victim of a cyberattack. In that notification, Metropolitan states that the incident resulted in an unauthorized party accessing consumers' confidential information, including their names, dates of birth, policy numbers, and social security numbers. After completing the investigation, Metropolitan Life began sending data breach notification letters to all individuals whose information was affected by the recent data breach.

If you have received a data breach notification from Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, it is important that you understand the risks involved and what you can do about them. A data breach lawyer can help you learn more about how to protect yourself from fraud or identity theft and discuss your legal options after the MetLife data breach. For more information, see our recent article on this topic. Here.

What caused the data breach affecting MetLife customers?

The data breach at Metropolitan Life Insurance Company was only recently disclosed and more information is expected in the near future. However, MetLife's filings with the Montana Attorney General provide some important information about what led to the data breach. According to this source, MetLife was notified by an anonymous service provider in July 2024 that an unauthorized party had access to the provider's IT network. Apparently, the service provider learned of the unauthorized access as early as February 22, 2024, subsequently secured its network and launched an investigation to learn more about what had happened and which MetLife customers were affected.

In June 2024, MetLife's service provider confirmed that there had been unauthorized access to MetLife's confidential customer information.

After learning that confidential customer data was accessible to unauthorized parties, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company reviewed the compromised files to determine what information was leaked and which customers were affected. The compromised information varies by individual, but may include your name, date of birth, policy number, and Social Security number.

On August 28, 2024, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company sent out data breach notification letters to everyone affected by the recent data breach. These letters were intended to provide victims with a list of the information belonging to them that had been compromised.

More information about Metropolitan Life Insurance Company

MetLife, Inc. is the name of the holding company of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC), commonly known as “MetLife.” The company offers a wide range of insurance products, including health insurance, dental insurance, auto insurance, disability insurance, and annuities. MetLife has annual revenues of over $67 billion and employs approximately 45,000 people..