Surrounding conditions Data Breach An ever-increasing number have been affected by this Fintech Companies It just got weirder. Evolve Bank & Trust announced It was hacked last week and confirmed that the stolen data has been posted on the dark web. Now Evolve has sent a cease and desist letter to the author of a newsletter covering the ongoing situation.
Jason Mikula, a writer for respected industry publication Fintech Business Weekly, told TechCrunch that he a cease and desist letter The bank had instructed them not to share files from the dark web with any allegedly affected fintech companies.
Mikula told TechCrunch that he was not actually doing such sharing, but that he had offered to do so and had seen some of the files. It is a common practice among journalists to look at hacked information when reporting on security breaches, in order to confirm that a breach has occurred and what has been stolen.
In this case, Mikula said he connected with four people who had access to some of the files that were stolen in the breach and posted on the dark web and has reviewed some of the data himself.
According to Mikula’s industry sources, the root of the problem is that not all affected fintech companies have received information on what information was stolen in the breach.
“As far as I understand, some fintechs did not receive ‘confirmation’ from Evolve as to whether a breach had occurred and thus did not take any actions to mitigate the risk or notify users,” Mikula told TechCrunch.
Mikula believes “looking at the files will help them (1) confirm that a breach occurred and which data fields were included and (2) will allow them to identify the specific customers who were impacted,” he said.
Mikula has been posting information about fintech companies that have been confirmed to be involved in X and reporting on it in his newsletter. So much so that X users like Parrot Capital have praised him. “Jason is providing better customer service than anyone else for those affected by the Evolve bank breach,” Parrot Posted on X.
Mikula said yesterday that he “woke up to C&D.” He added that he had been reporting responsibly on the situation and would continue to do so. TechCrunch has contacted Evolve for comment.
Meanwhile, while Evolve was sending lawyers’ letters to Mikula, on July 1 a group of senators publicly urged those involved with the troubled fintech, Synapse, to take action. They want Synapse’s owners, its fintech and bank partners — including Evolve — to “Restore immediately Customers have access to their money.” Pressure exerted on the synapse File for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy The company had shut down its entire business in May. Since then, customers have stayed away from it.
The senators held both the company’s partners and investors responsible for any missing customer funds. The senators’ letter alleges that between $65 million and $95 million worth of funds are missing, but all the other players, including Synapse and Evolve, claim that if this is true, they are not responsible. They are all pointing fingers at each other.
The letter was addressed to W. Scott Stafford, president and CEO of Evolve Bank & Trust, but was also sent to major investors in bankrupt banking-as-a-service startup Synapse, as well as the company’s major bank and fintech partners.
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