On July 28, 2025, TransUnion disclosed a data breach affecting more than 4.4 million individuals. It exposed names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth. The compromise stemmed from a third-party application used in consumer support operations. Although no credit data was involved, the exposed information is highly sensitive and can be used to facilitate identity theft and fraud.

The TransUnion breach highlights a serious reality for all enterprises. Attackers are increasingly targeting endpoints and third-party systems as entry points into critical environments. And when personal data is exposed at this scale, speed, visibility, and defensibility become non-negotiable for security teams.

This blog explores how OpenText DFIR solutions address the type of challenges surfaced by the TransUnion event. It covers lessons security leaders can learn from this incident, and why forensic-grade investigation and incident response capabilities must be a foundational pillar of modern SOC strategy.

DFIR lessons from the TransUnion data breach

The timeline:

• July 28, 2025: Attackers gained unauthorized access to a third-party application tied to U.S. consumer support operations.
• July 30, 2025: The breach was detected, giving adversaries a two-day dwell window to access or stage sensitive data.
• Following Weeks: TransUnion notified affected customers. Then it began offering 24 months of credit monitoring, and engaged law enforcement alongside third-party cybersecurity experts.

The data exposed during this cybersecurity breach included names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth.  This combination represents a high-value data set for identity theft, more dangerous in many ways than credit card numbers, which can be reissued.

The attack vector:  The breach exploited a third-party application, highlighting the rising risks of supply chain and vendor-related vulnerabilities. As organizations expand digital ecosystems, attackers are increasingly exploiting these connections.

Why the need for DFIR extends beyond the TransUnion event

TransUnion may be a household name in credit reporting, but the circumstances of this breach are not unique.

• Third-party compromise: A recurring attack vector, from SolarWinds to MOVEit.

• PII exposure: Personal identifiers remain prime targets for cybercriminals.
• Delayed detection: A two-day window may seem short, but in today’s environment, even hours can mean millions of records exposed.

For any enterprise managing sensitive consumer or employee data, the lessons are clear: endpoint visibility, rapid triage, and defensible response are essential.

Lesson 1 - DFIR best practices: Reducing dwell time with faster breach detection

The TransUnion case highlights an all-too-common challenge: the lag in detecting threats. Even the best prevention tools, firewalls, EDRs, and SIEMs can miss subtle attacker behaviors, especially when adversaries exploit trusted third-party applications.

The problem:

• Dwell times, even measured in days, give attackers opportunities to stage data, escalate privileges, and expand access.
• Traditional EDR may not detect fileless malware or lateral movement hidden in encrypted traffic.
• Third-party applications often sit outside the direct scope of enterprise monitoring.

How OpenText helps: 

At OpenText, we help organizations unlock the full value of their information, which extends directly to cybersecurity. Digital Forensics and Incident Response, or DFIR, is all about giving security teams the clarity and speed they need to investigate, contain, and remediate threats. That’s where OpenText Endpoint Forensics and Response comes in.  It brings together powerful digital forensic investigation with rapid incident response, so SOC teams can not only see what happened but also act on it in real-time. It’s the perfect example of how OpenText reimagines information management to drive both security and resilience.

OpenText Endpoint Forensics & Response provides organizations with near real-time visibility into endpoints, whether they’re on-network or remote, enabling security teams to quickly detect and contain threats before they escalate. Automated IoC and YARA-based scanning helps reduce risk by identifying beaconing, unauthorized processes, or suspicious registry changes without adding manual overhead. With artifact-driven workflows, investigations are accelerated by focusing on the data that matters most, reducing downtime, lowering costs, and enhancing overall resilience.  With OpenText Endpoint Forensics & Response, SOC teams can detect incidents hours after compromise, not days, dramatically reducing dwell time.

Lesson 2 - Incident response and digital forensics: Contain attacks while preserving evidence

When a breach occurs, speed matters, but accuracy is also crucial. Responding too slowly increases exposure, but responding without preserving evidence can undermine investigations, regulatory compliance, and legal proceedings.

The problem:

• Containment efforts often disrupt operations.
• Isolating compromised endpoints can break workflows or disrupt critical services.
• Evidence can be lost if containment isn’t handled in a forensic manner.

How OpenText Endpoint Forensics & Response helps: 

OpenText Endpoint Forensics & Response enables security teams to isolate compromised endpoints remotely, cutting off threats while still maintaining full forensic access for investigation. Malicious processes or files can be terminated and remediated automatically, reducing dwell time and minimizing business disruption without the need for manual intervention. At the same time, every action is logged with complete chain-of-custody integrity, ensuring evidence is preserved in a court-defensible manner for compliance and legal requirements.

This balance of containment and preservation ensures organizations stay operational while strengthening their forensic posture.

Lesson 3: DFIR for compliance: Court-ready evidence and audit-ready reporting

Every breach today comes with a regulatory spotlight. From GDPR and CCPA to SEC breach disclosure rules and DORA in the EU, organizations must provide timely, accurate, and defensible reporting.

The problem:

• Manual investigations often take weeks.
• Incomplete evidence can undermine regulatory filings.
• Board and executive teams demand rapid, fact-based reporting.

How OpenText Endpoint Forensics & Response helps:

OpenText Endpoint Forensics & Response streamlines investigations with automated forensic collections backed by tamper-proof logs, ensuring evidence remains reliable and defensible. Analysts can quickly reconstruct timelines that visually map attacker activity, providing clear insight into what happened and when. The solution also generates audit-ready reports tailored for regulators, executives, and insurers, helping organizations meet compliance requirements and communicate findings with confidence.

With OpenText Endpoint Forensics & Response, security leaders can brief stakeholders with confidence and clarity, reducing both compliance risk and reputational damage.

Lesson 4: Managing third-party risk with DFIR

The TransUnion breach reinforces a painful reality: your security is only as strong as your weakest vendor. Third-party applications and managed services expand attack surfaces in ways that traditional monitoring tools struggle to cover.

The problem:

• Vendors often have privileged access.
• Endpoint activity tied to third-party applications may fall outside traditional visibility.
• Vendor breaches are increasingly the attacker’s weapon of choice.

How OpenText Endpoint Forensics & Response helps:

OpenText Endpoint Forensics & Response provides cross-environment endpoint monitoring, extending visibility even to off-VPN systems that are often blind spots for security teams. It captures forensic evidence of third-party activity, helping organizations distinguish between legitimate vendor use and malicious exploitation. With seamless integration into SIEM and SOAR tools, vendor-related incidents are routed directly into the enterprise SOC for immediate triage, ensuring faster responses and reduced risk.

With OpenText Endpoint Forensics & Response, enterprises can extend forensic visibility into the third-party ecosystem, reducing blind spots that attackers exploit.

Lesson 5: How DFIR builds cyber resilience and strengthens SOC maturity

TransUnion’s breach response included free credit monitoring and fraud assistance for affected consumers. While this is a necessary remediation step, it is inherently reactive. True resilience requires a proactive approach.

The problem:

• Reactive remediation does not prevent future attacks.
• Repeated breaches erode consumer trust.
• Insurance and legal liabilities rise with every incident.

How OpenText Endpoint Forensics & Response helps:

OpenText Endpoint Forensics & Response is not just a breach response tool.  It’s a resilience enabler.  It enables SOCs to build repeatable forensic playbooks, helping teams respond faster and more consistently in future incidents. By integrating forensic insights into daily operations, the solution enhances overall SOC maturity, improving resilience, reducing response times, and ensuring continuous improvement.  With OpenText Endpoint Forensics & Response, organizations move beyond “incident cleanup” into a cycle of continuous improvement and preparedness.

Industry-wide DFIR challenges: Ransomware, supply chain attacks, and nation-state threats

One can only imagine the pressure the TransUnion SOC team may have been under in the hours and days that ensued the breach.  But the TransUnion breach is only the latest high-profile incident in a growing trend.  Different industries face distinct but equally serious threats. Healthcare organizations continue to be hit by ransomware campaigns that expose sensitive patient data. Financial institutions remain prime targets for credential theft and fraud, while government agencies are under constant pressure from nation-state actors probing for weaknesses. At the same time, manufacturers and critical infrastructure providers face growing supply chain risks, similar to what we saw in the TransUnion scenario, making cyber resilience and preparedness essential across every sector.

In every case, the common threads are the same: sensitive data, third-party risk, and delayed investigation and response. But your SOC team doesn’t have to face the pressures that come from a lack of visibility.  OpenText Endpoint Forensics & Response addresses these industry-wide challenges by delivering visibility, speed, and defensibility.

Why OpenText Endpoint Forensics & Response belongs in every enterprise SOC

OpenText Endpoint Forensics & Response is not a niche tool for forensic experts.  It’s a core capability for modern SOCs. OpenText Endpoint Forensics & Response is a DFIR tool that delivers value across the organization by addressing the needs of multiple stakeholders. Executives gain assurance through fact-based reporting and defensible evidence that supports informed decision-making. SOC teams benefit from greater efficiency, with automated forensic workflows that shorten investigation timelines and reduce manual effort. Compliance officers can rely on complete defensibility, as every collection, action, and report is preserved in a court-proven manner. And for consumers, faster containment and transparent reporting help protect trust and minimize reputational damage.

Strengthening your cybersecurity with OpenText Endpoint Forensics & Response

The TransUnion breach is a stark reminder that no enterprise is immune from cyber threats, especially those tied to third-party systems. For organizations handling sensitive data, it’s not a matter of if but when attackers will strike.

OpenTextEndpoint Forensics & Response equips enterprises to:

• See everything with real-time endpoint visibility.
• Detect faster with automated forensic analysis and IoC scanning.
• Respond smarter with isolation, remediation, and defensible reporting.

Breaches like the one at TransUnion highlight the stakes. OpenText Endpoint Forensics & Response ensures that when the next incident occurs, organizations are ready not just to react, but to respond with confidence, speed, and forensic precision.

Want to reduce risk and respond faster? Contact OpenText to learn more.

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