A ransomware attack in California has compromised the data of hundreds of thousands of cannabis customers across the state. Stiiizy, a marijuana brand based in California, recently notified 380,000 customers that their data had been compromised in a phishing attack against one of its vendors. The cannabis brand confirmed the alert via a data breach notification to the Maine Attorney General’s Office stating that on November 20, 2024, one of its point-of-sale processing services vendors notified it of a massive data breach at several retail locations.
According to the data breach notification, an ‘organized cybercrime group’ was behind the data breach and likely used a ransomware attack to break into Stiiizy’s data banks. The notification states that hackers acquired customers’ documents and personal information from October 10, 2024, to November 10, 2024. Initial investigations revealed that customers who had transacted at locations in San Francisco’s Mission Street and Union Square as well as McHenry Avenue in Modesto and Webster Street in Alameda were affected by the data breach.
The data compromised in the breach included medical cannabis cards and driver’s licenses, personal information such as names, addresses, ages, dates of birth, passport and driver’s license numbers, transaction histories, and the signatures on government-issued identification cards and medical marijuana cards. Stiiizy informed affected customers that it had implemented extra security measures to prevent a similar attack from happening again and that it would provide them with free credit monitoring services.
The California-based cannabis brand also encouraged the affected customers to remain vigilant against fraud and identity thefts by regularly reviewing their account statements and monitoring their credit reports. It advised individuals who discovered unauthorized or suspicious activity on their credit reports to reach out to credit bureaus and their financial institutions to report the activity.
It also provided an assistance line (833-799-4284) where Stiiizy customers could reach out to the brand if they believed they had been affected by the data breach. Additionally, Stiiizy will provide free Single Bureau Credit Monitoring, Single Bureau Credit Score, and Single Bureau Credit Report services. Customers who enroll will have access to free alerts for 12 months.
The cannabis brand has also partnered with a TransUnion firm that specializes in fraud assistance and remediation called Cyberscout to provide customers with proactive fraud assistance at no charge. Customers can enroll for Credit Monitoring at https://bfs.cyberscout.com/activate within 90 days of the notice’s release.
This incident in California serves as a cautionary tale to all businesses, such as Cresco Labs Inc. (CSE: CL) (OTCQX: CRLBF), to be extra vigilant about cybersecurity since a breach can instantly harm the brand after all the hard work that has gone into building it to what it is.
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