Byte Federal Data Breach Investigation

Recently, Byte Federal reported to the Attorney General of Maine that it had experienced a data breach in which sensitive personal identifiable information in its systems may have been accessed. According to the breach notice, on November 18, 2024, Byte Federal became aware of a security breach by a bad actor who gained unauthorized access to one of its servers by exploiting a vulnerability in GitLab, a third party software platform.¹ As a result, Byte Federal launched an investigation to determine the nature of the incident.

Through its investigation, Byte Federal confirmed that sensitive personal information in its systems may have been compromised by an unauthorized third party on September 30, 2024. As a result, Byte Federal began a review of the data to determine what information had been impacted as well as identify the specific individuals affected. While the information impacted varies depending on the individual, the type of information potentially exposed includes:

• Name
• Social Security number
• Address
• Date of birth
• Phone number and email address
• Government issued identification
• Transaction activity
• Photographs of users

On December 12, 2024, Byte Federal began mailing data breach notification letters to impacted individuals. Based on the breach notice sent to Maine residents, Byte Federal is providing affected individuals with a list of the specific types of sensitive information impacted. A link to the form breach notification letters that Byte Federal filed with the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Maine is below.