Cetera Financial Group
Disclosed Sep 1, 20215 years ago4,388 affectedSettled
Email account takeovers exposed 4,388 clients' data; SEC sanctions
The SEC found that cloud email accounts of more than 60 Cetera employees were taken over for over three years, exposing personal information of at least 4,388 clients. Cetera, Cambridge Investment Research and KMS Financial were sanctioned USD 750,000 combined.
What is known
| People affected | 4,388 (as reported by the organization) |
|---|---|
| Disclosed | Sep 1, 2021 |
| Happened | Nov 29, 2021 |
| Attack | Phishing |
| Data exposed | Names, Social Security numbers, Financial |
| Sector | Finance · US |
| Status | Settled |
| Lawsuit or fine | SEC sanctions, USD 750,000 combined with Cambridge and KMS (Aug 2021) |
Sources
| Source | |
|---|---|
| SEC fines brokerage firms over email hacks that exposed client datatechcrunch.com · News | News |
| Indiana Attorney General 2022 data breach report: Cetera Financial Groupin.gov · Official notice | Official notice |
Notices filed
| Where | Filed | People |
|---|---|---|
| Researchtotal | Sep 1, 2021 | 4,388 |
| Indiana AGresidents of IN | Jun 9, 2022 | 4 |
Other breaches at Cetera Financial Group
| Breach | Affected | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disclosed Mar 25, 2026Mar 256 months ago | Mar 256 months ago | Not stated | Tech | Confirmed | 43K |
| Disclosed Aug 21, 2020Aug 21, 20206 years agoHacking | Aug 21, 20206 years ago | Hacking | Tech | Confirmed | 109K |
| Disclosed Jun 6, 2019Jun 6, 20197 years ago | Jun 6, 20197 years ago | Not stated | Finance | Confirmed | 1,662 |
History of this record
- 2026-09-25 · source_type: press to official · backfill source
- 2026-09-25 · source_url: https://techcrunch.com/2021/09/01/sec-fines-brokerage-firms-over-email-hacks-that-exposed-client-data/ to https://www.in.gov/attorneygeneral/consumer-protection-division/id-theft-prevention/files/2022-DB-Year-to-Date-Report-for-Website.pdf · backfill source
- 2026-09-25 · verified_by: empty to in-ag · backfill source
- 2026-09-25 · verified: 0 to 1 · backfill source
- 2026-09-25 · occurred: empty to 2021-11-29 · backfill source
- 2026-09-25 · added · seed source
First seen 2026-09-25 (Research), confirmed by Indiana AG. Record counts are as reported. Not legal advice.