Entertainment Partners, Industry Payroll and Residuals Company, Notifies Nearly 500,000 of Significant Data Breach
Social Security numbers, full names and mailing addresses were exposed during the June breach
Entertainment Partners, a company that handles payroll and residuals payments for many in the entertainment industry, suffered a significant data breach in late June that compromised the confidential information of nearly 500,000 people, a letter to those affected reveals.
Full names, mailing addresses, tax ID numbers and Social Security numbers were among the “confidential and personal information” that was compromised during the breach, the letter — which was posted on reddit — reads.
When TheWrap reached out to Entertainment Partners, an employee confirmed the existence of the letter before declining to comment on the data breach or the number of people affected. A filing with the Maine Attorney General on Aug. 2, when the letters were sent out, puts the number at 471,362.
According to the letter from Entertainment Partners, signed by president and CEO Mark Goldstein, on Friday, June 30, 2023, the company noticed “suspicious activity within a limited area of our computer network that supports a subset of our accounting applications.” The letter says they took the applications offline, contacted law enforcement and engaged “industry-leading cybersecurity experts to investigate.” Over the next few weeks, they determined that “a sophisticated threat actor evaded our cybersecurity defenses and acquired database files” containing peoples’ information.
While Entertainment Partners is continuing to work with law enforcement officials and cybersecurity experts, a number of potential class action lawsuits have popped up, including from a Cincinnati law firm “experienced in data breach cases” and one in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which has a form that you can fill out if you think were a victim of the breach. “If you believe you are a victim of the Entertainment Partners data breach, and would like to participate in a class action lawsuit regarding this data breach, please submit your information via the form on this webpage,” the website reads.
The data breach, which could compromise the financial accounts of those affected, comes as the entire film and television industry is already reeling from the financial impact of the double strike.
Those affected by the data breach are encouraged to reach out to Entertainment Partners’ dedicated support team at 866-676-3269.
According to their official website, Entertainment Partners “is the industry leader in Production Finance and Production Management, delivering integrated, cloud-based digital solutions supporting every phase of production. Since our founding, we’ve supported tens of thousands of productions—from Hollywood blockbusters to indie breakthroughs—and continue to provide the innovative solutions powering the industry’s most creative works.”
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