It’s being called one of the most significant cyber attacks in the U.S. to date. According to a recent article from Dow Jones Business News, over the summer, at least 13 financial services companies were targeted by hackers. Among them: J.P. Morgan & Chase Co., and mutual-fund firm Fidelity.

It could have been a lot worse. As far as anyone can tell, J.P. Morgan and Fidelity were the only companies of the bunch who had data stolen. Fidelity reports that it has confirmed that customer accounts, information, services and systems were not impacted. The sensitive information of J.P. Morgan customers, including social security numbers or passwords were also spared.

However, what the hackers — believed by investigators to be tied to Russian-speaking cyber criminals — took is concerning enough. The contact information, such as emails, for 76 million households and seven million small businesses was stolen. The bank says the breach could expose customers to sham emails. It’s enough of a concern that investigators from the FBI, NSA, Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, and New York’s Department of Financial Services are involved. Also involved are State Attorney’s offices from Rhode Island, California, Connecticut, and Illinois.

Fidelity stated that it deploys multiple layers of security to protect its customers’ personal data. However, the issue has raised concerns over the security of the country’s financial services institutions and has attorneys looking into whether or not the companies impacted followed state disclosure laws regarding the data security breaches.

Financial services providers have unique needs when it comes to technology. Protection of sensitive data is paramount, and yet your employees need access to computers and information in order to do their jobs. If you’re looking for financial industry IT solutions that offer both security and reliability, we can provide a managed services plan that will work for you. For more information, contact us.