Dive Brief:

• Miami-based home builder Lennar experienced a cybersecurity breach involving access to customers’ personal information, according to a notification submitted by Lennar to California’s Department of Justice.
• The company detected unauthorized activity in its computer systems on July 20, and said that it believes that a third party obtained access to the information earlier that month. 
• The names and Social Security numbers of 7,448 Lennar customers were exposed in the breach, according to a filing with the Maine Attorney General. Lennar does not believe any of its customers’ information has been misused, according to an Oct. 4 notice Lennar provided to those affected.

Dive Insight:

Upon detecting the unauthorized activity, Lennar took immediate action to stop unauthorized access and contacted law enforcement, according to its customer notice. 

“[We] launched an investigation into the cause and scope with the assistance of leading cybersecurity experts,” the notice said. “Based on the investigation to date, we have no evidence of ongoing unauthorized access to our system.”

The company is offering affected customers 24 months of free credit monitoring services through Experian, as well as guidance on how to report incidents and place a fraud alert or security freeze on a credit file. A company representative did not respond to Multifamily Dive’s request for comment.

Lennar is the third construction-related company to experience a cybersecurity incident in recent months. 

Builders Mutual Insurance Co., a commercial construction underwriter based in Raleigh, North Carolina, was the target of a hack that affected the personal information of 64,761 customers, current employees and former workers. 

Then, on Oct. 10, building material supplier Simpson Strong-Tie reported a cyberattack that continues to disrupt its business operations. The scope of the breach is still under investigation.