NYSARC Columbia County Chapter Provides Notice of Security Incident

NEW YORK, April 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- NYSARC Columbia County Chapter ("COARC") confirmed today that they experienced a data incident in July 2022 and will issue notices to affected individuals and relevant state and federal agencies about the incident.

On July 19, 2022, COARC detected irregular activity on their systems that was consistent with a typical ransomware attack. Out of an abundance of caution, COARC immediately began to remediate the situation including disconnecting systems, engaging data security and privacy professionals, contacting law enforcement, and simultaneously beginning an investigation. The investigation determined that for a brief period of time in July, an unauthorized actor obtained access to a limited number of COARC systems, seemingly for the sole purpose of encrypting certain data with ransomware. While COARC is unaware of any misuse of personal information, out of an abundance of caution, we notified the potentially affected individuals by mail. 

COARC determined that the following types of information may have been impacted: name, address, social security number, financial account, credit card information, medical information, student information, driver's license, and passport number. Note that this describes general categories of information identified as present within the affected systems during the incident and it includes categories that are not relevant to each individual.

Upon becoming aware of the incident, COARC immediately implemented measures to further improve the security of their systems and practices. COARC worked with a leading privacy and security firm to aid in their investigation and response and is reporting this incident to relevant government agencies. COARC also implemented additional security protocols designed to protect their network, email environment, and systems.

While unaware of any misuse, COARC encourages individuals to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud, to review account statements and explanation of benefits forms, and to monitor free credit reports for suspicious activity and to detect errors. Under U.S. law, individuals are entitled to one (1) free credit report annually from each of the three (3) major credit reporting bureaus. Additional information and resources are outlined below.

Moreover, information regarding identity theft, fraud alerts, security freezes, and the steps an individual can take to protect personal information may be obtained by contacting the consumer reporting agencies, the Federal Trade Commission, or the appropriate 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. The Federal Trade Commission also encourages those who discover that their information has been misused to file a complaint with them. Individuals can obtain further information on how to file such a complaint by calling 1-877-438-4338. Individuals should file a police report if they are a victim of identity theft or fraud. To file a report with law enforcement for identity theft, an individual will likely need to provide some proof that they have been a victim.

CONTACT: Daniel Greene, [email protected]

SOURCE NYSARC Columbia County Chapter