MassMutual Annuity Unit Faces Federal MOVEit Data Breach Suit

Progress Software is a Burlington, Massachusetts-based company that provides the MOVEit system.

PBI Research is a Minneapolis-based company that helps life insurers, annuity issuers, pension plans and other organizations determine whether customers are alive. PBI used MOVEit systems to move some of the data used in the death audit process.

MassMutual Ascend declined to comment, and represents for PBI could not immediately be reached for comment.

A spokesperson for the MOVEit program said, “We do not comment on pending litigation as our focus remains on working closely with customers so they can take the steps needed to further harden their environments, including applying the patches we have developed.”

The suit: The Pilotti-Iulo suit appears to resemble many other MOVEit suits filed in federal district courts. The plaintiff argues that the defendants violated data protection standards and failed to protect personal data, such as customers’ names and Social Security numbers, from the breach.

The plaintiff is asking for damages and for the defendants to improve their data security practices.

Looking ahead: The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation will hold a hearing Thursday in Lexington, Kentucky, on whether and how to handle MOVEit cases like the Pilotti-Iulo suit. Many of the parties want to see some, most or all federal cases consolidated in one court. Others want to see their cases considered separately, in the original court of jurisdiction.