Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America has filed a lawsuit against several technology companies, alleging negligence in handling cybersecurity that led to a significant ransomware attack. The complaint was filed on October 25, 2024, in the Circuit Court of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County, Florida, targeting ConnectWise, LLC, ConnectWise Holdings, LLC, and iPower Technologies, Inc.
The plaintiff, Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America ("Travelers"), is acting as a subrogee and assignee for two law firms: Marin, Eljaick, Lopez & Martinez, P.L. ("Marin") and Weiss Serota Helfman Cole & Bierman, P.L. ("Weiss"). Both firms experienced severe disruptions due to a ransomware attack on October 29, 2020. The attack compromised their internal servers through vulnerabilities in the remote access platform provided by iPower Technologies using software from ConnectWise.
According to the complaint, both law firms had contracted with iPower for IT services. During the attack, an unknown perpetrator demanded substantial ransoms to restore access to encrypted data. For Weiss's case specifically, a ransom of $2.5 million was initially demanded; however, they eventually paid $15,000 after negotiations facilitated by Travelers' forensic investigator. Similarly, Marin faced demands totaling $84,700 but settled at $81,620.55 through negotiation by Coveware Inc., funded by Travelers.
Travelers accuses the defendants of failing to implement adequate cybersecurity measures despite knowing the risks associated with handling sensitive client data. The lawsuit claims that this negligence directly resulted in significant business interruptions and financial losses for both law firms involved. Furthermore, Travelers argues that such inadequate security practices violate Section 5(a) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C § 45), which prohibits unfair practices affecting commerce.
In seeking judgment from the court as subrogee and assignee for Weiss and Marin's claims against these technology companies—ConnectWise entities along with iPower—Travelers requests damages including lost profits alongside actual nominal consequential damages determined by trial findings; reasonable attorney fees costs expenses; pre-and post-judgment interest awards among other relief deemed just proper under circumstances presented within their comprehensive filing documentations dated October 25th last year (2024).
Representing Travelers is Michael J Reilly Esq., part of Law Offices James W Kehoe III based out Fort Lauderdale Florida. The Case ID number:502024CA010228XXXAMB Div AO