Cognizant alerts customers to April data breach and offers $1 million identity protection

Cognizant notified customers that a data breach around April 21 may have exposed personal information, though the company withheld specifics on the number of victims or the type of data involved. In a letter, the firm expressed regret and said it sees no evidence of misuse so far. Affected individuals will receive a two-year identity-theft protection package from IDX, featuring credit monitoring, cyber-scan alerts, a $1 million insurance reimbursement, and managed recovery services.

Cognizant urged recipients to monitor accounts, place fraud alerts or security freezes with major credit bureaus, and noted that federal law prohibits charging for such freezes. Under Massachusetts law, victims can request a police report, and they should file one if identity theft occurs. ClaimDepot reported that a threat actor known as CoinbaseCartel claimed responsibility on a Tor-hosted dark-web site, but Cognizant’s notice omitted details about the breach’s cause or the data categories affected. Earlier this year, Cognizant’s TriZetto Provider Solutions unit suffered a separate breach affecting about 3.4 million people.