Clearfield County, PA – People associated with Clearfield County and the Clearfield County Courthouse could have been affected by a cyber attack on the county’s computer network in January.
The county has sent out written notification letters to anyone who might have been affected by the data breach. That letter also includes steps that you might want to take to help protect your personal information.
Whether you believe you were affected by this cyber attack or not, you should always be on the lookout for strange charges on your cards, new accounts that have been opened in your name, or anything strange in your financial reports.
***
Clearfield, PA – Clearfield County, Pennsylvania announced that a recent cyber event may have impacted the security of personal information relating to certain individuals associated with the County. The County has sent written notification letters regarding the incident to these individuals, which will include steps they may take to help protect their personal information, should they feel it is appropriate to do so.
On January 9, 2021, the County learned that it was the target of a cybercriminal attack and that its computer network was infected with ransomware.
The County immediately launched an investigation into the nature and scope of the incident and hired outside legal counsel, who then engaged forensic investigators to further analyze this event.
Based upon the County’s current investigation, an unauthorized party obtained access to County servers in late October 2020. On January 25, 2021, the County received confirmation that the cybercriminals had accessed certain files that were stored within the County’s computer environment and contained personal information. On February 12, 2021, the forensic investigation confirmed that some of the personal information stored on the County’s network was made available on the cybercriminal’s website.
The incident required the County to conduct a thorough and lengthy review of the potentially impacted data in order to determine who, and what information, was involved.
Based on the investigation, the impacted data included name, date of birth, address, and Social Security number. The County encourages potentially impacted individuals to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud, to review account statements, and monitor credit reports for suspicious activity. All individuals receiving notification will be offered one year of credit monitoring services, at no charge.
In addition to launching an internal investigation into this incident, the County is reviewing its existing policies and procedures and will implement additional safeguards to protect data, as needed.
The Commissioners have made the following joint statement: “The security of information in our care is among Clearfield County’s highest priorities. We are committed to protecting our residents’ information against ever evolving and pervasive cyber threats. We will continue to invest in the internal processes, tools, and resources necessary to reduce the likelihood that this can happen again.”