CalPERS & CalSTRS Breach

CalPERS (California Public Employees Retirement System) and CalSTRS (California State Teachers Retirement System) are two organizations that oversee the retirement funds, medical benefits, and more for retired teachers and other public employees in California. These organizations manage huge amounts of personal, medical, and even some financial data for these retirees. That's why it's a major issue that both of these groups suffered from a data breach at the same time.

What Was the Breach?

• Full Names
• Addresses
• Birth Dates
• Social Security Numbers

How Did the Breach Occur?

The CalPERS data breach occurred because PBI Research Services, the company managing data for both CalPERS and CalSTRS, was breached by a group of hackers. The attack allowed the group to gain access to sensitive data that could do real harm to everyone involved in the attack if action isn't taken to protect the individuals.

When Did This Breach Occur?

This CalPERS and CalSTRS data breach was first discovered by PBI on June 6, 2023. At that time, the contractor began notifying the organizations they were at risk and started an official investigation into the breach. On June 22, 2023, the organization began sending letters out to all the impacted retirees that could have lost their data.

Who Does the Breach Impact?

Nearly 770,000 separate retirees in California were impacted by this breach. Many of the retirees were teachers, but there were other public servants involved in the breach as well.

How Many Files Does the Breach Affect?

We don't have information on the number of files involved in this breach. We do know that hundreds of thousands of people were impacted by the incident and that there could be serious issues for everyone involved if they don't protect themselves. The companies are offering credit monitoring and identity theft protection services to everyone involved, and everyone is encouraged to take advantage of these services to protect themselves.