Fremont County, CO - Notice of Data Event

CANON CITY, Colo., Oct. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Fremont County, CO. ("Fremont County") recently learned of an incident that may affect the privacy of certain information and is providing notice of the event so that individuals may take steps to protect their personal information, should they feel it appropriate to do so. To date, Fremont County has not received any reports that personal information has been misused as a result of this incident.

On August 17, 2022, Fremont County became aware of suspicious activity on its network and discovered that it could not access certain files and folders on its servers. Fremont County immediately took steps to secure the environment, restore operations, and launched an investigation with third party specialists to determine the nature and scope of the activity, including working with state and federal law enforcement. Fremont Count's investigation determined that there was unauthorized access by an unknown individual to certain files on Fremont County's network – including files from the Sheriff's Department – from on or about August 13, 2022 through August 17, 2022.

Fremont County take this incident and the security of personal information in its care very seriously. Upon learning of this incident, Fremont County immediately took steps to ensure the security of its email environment and to investigate the activity. Fremont County conducted a comprehensive review to identify the individuals whose information was present in the impacted files and is in the process of notifying those individuals of the incident to provide them with further information regarding this incident. Fremont County is also reviewing its existing policies and procedures and has reported this incident to relevant state and federal regulators, as required. The following personal information about you may have been present in the impacted Sheriff's Department files: name, address, date of birth, Social Security number, driver's license number, bank account information, and/or health information. Although we have no evidence to indicate any information was subject to actual or attempted misuse, Fremont County is providing this notice to all impacted individuals out of an abundance of caution.

On October 4, 2022 Fremont County began mailing notice letters to individuals whose information may have been affected. Fremont County has offered these individuals access to credit monitoring and identity restoration services for one year without charge. Fremont County also is encouraging individuals to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud, to review account statements, and to monitor credit reports and explanation of benefits forms for suspicious activity. Fremont County's notification to individuals includes information on obtaining a free credit report annually from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com, calling 877-322-8228, or contacting the three major credit bureaus directly at: Equifax, P.O. Box 105069, Atlanta, GA, 30348, 800-525-6285, www.equifax.com; Experian, P.O. Box 2002, Allen, TX 75013, 888-397-3742, www.experian.com; TransUnion, P.O. Box 2000, Chester, PA 19016, 800-680-7289, www.transunion.com. Individuals may also find information regarding identity theft, fraud alerts, security freezes and the steps they may take to protect their information by contacting the credit bureaus, the Federal Trade Commission or their state Attorney General. The Federal Trade Commission can be reached at: 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580; www.identitytheft.gov; 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338); and TTY: 1-866-653-4261. Instances of known or suspected identity theft should also be reported to law enforcement or the individual's state Attorney General. Fremont County has provided notice of this incident to required state regulators.

Fremont County has established a dedicated toll-free call center for individuals seeking more information on this incident or steps they may take to protect their personal information. The call center may be reached at (833) 559-2447 Monday through Friday, 8 am – 10 pm Central Time, or Saturday and Sunday from 10 am – 7 pm Central Time (excluding some U.S. national holidays). More information is also available on Fremont County's website at https://fremontcountyco.state.co.us/.

SOURCE Fremont County, CO.