Turke & Strauss LLP, a leading data breach law firm, is investigating Ascendum Machinery, Inc. (“Ascendum”) regarding its recent data breach. The Ascendum data breach involved sensitive personal identifiable information belonging to an undetermined number of individuals.
ABOUT ASCENDUM MACHINERY, INC.:
Ascendum is a construction equipment sales and service company based in North Carolina. Founded in 2004, Ascendum is a part of the Ascendum Group, a Portuguese conglomerate with global reach into 14 countries.2 As an equipment servicer and dealership, Ascendum sells, rents, leases, finances, repairs, and maintains a variety of machines. Additionally, Ascendum offers products from a wide range of brands, including Volvo, Bergmann, Leeboy, Sennebogen, Doosan Portable Power, Gradall, HKD Blue and more.3 Headquartered in Huntersville, North Carolina, Ascendum has 13 additional locations in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, North Dakota, and Tennessee, and employs over 200 individuals.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Last year, Ascendum discovered that it had experienced a data beach in which sensitive personal information in its systems may have been accessed and acquired. Through its investigation, Ascendum determined that an unauthorized actor may have accessed this sensitive information between May 27 and May 28, 2023. On January 18, 2024, Ascendum began notifying individuals whose information may have been impacted. The exact type of personal information potentially exposed has not been made publicly available by Ascendum. However, according to state reporting guidelines, “personal information” can include the following types of information:
- Name
- Social Security number
- Driver’s license or state-issued identification number
- Financial information (e.g., financial account number, credit or debit card number)
- Medical information
- Taxpayer ID number
- Identity protection personal ID number
If you received a breach notification letter from Ascendum Machinery, Inc.:
We would like to speak with you about your rights and potential legal remedies in response to this data breach. Please fill out the form, below, or contact us at (608) 237-1775 or sam@turkestrauss.com.
If you were impacted by the Ascendum data breach, you may consider taking the following steps to protect your personal information.
- Carefully review the breach notice and retain a copy;
- Enroll in any free credit monitoring services provided by Ascendum Machinery, Inc.:
- Change passwords and security questions for online accounts;
- Regularly review account statements for signs of fraud or unauthorized activity;
- Monitor credit reports for signs of identity theft; and
- Contact a credit bureau(s) to request a temporary fraud alert.