Florida Keys Community College Provides Notice of Data Security Incident

KEY WEST, Fla., Feb. 27, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida Keys Community College (the "College") is taking action after discovering that it became the target of a phishing email campaign that compromised several employee email account credentials. 

What Happened?  On October 19, 2018 Florida Keys Community College (the "College") learned of suspicious activity regarding an employee's email account. We immediately launched an investigation, which included working with third-party forensic investigators, to determine the full nature and scope of this incident. The investigation determined that an unknown individual had accessed certain College employees' email accounts between May 5, 2018 and November 5, 2018.  

The contents of the accounts were reviewed through a manual and programmatic process to determine what sensitive data may have been accessible.  On January 7, 2019, we confirmed the identities of the individuals who may have had information accessible as a result of the incident and promptly launched a review of our files to ascertain address information for the impacted individuals.

What Information Was Involved? The investigation in this matter confirmed that some combination of the following types of personal information may have been accessible as a result of the incident: name, address, date of birth, Social Security number, passport information, medical information, and username and password.

What is Florida Keys Community College Doing?  The College takes the security of personal information in our care very seriously.  Upon learning of this event, we promptly notified potentially affected employees and worked with them to secure their relevant College accounts. We are notifying state regulators as required by law. We are notifying potentially affected individuals and will be offering these individuals access to 12 months of free identity protection services and providing additional information on steps to protect their identity.  

The College has security measures in place to protect data in its care and is taking steps to enhance data security protections to protect against similar incidents in the future including implementing increased security measures for account access. We implemented Multi Factor Authentication on all email accounts to prevent unauthorized access to accounts without verification by the account owner.

For More Information The College established a dedicated hotline for potentially affected individuals to contact with questions or concerns regarding this incident. For additional information, please call 1-833-231-3356, Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., EST.  You may also write to us at 5901 College Rd., Key West, FL 33040.

Monitor Your Accounts

The College encourages potentially impacted individuals to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud, to review your account statements, and to monitor your credit reports for suspicious activity.  Under U.S. law you are entitled to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus.  To order your free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call, toll-free, 1-877-322-8228.  You may also contact the three major credit bureaus directly to request a free copy of your credit report.

You have the right to place a "security freeze" on your credit report, which will prohibit a consumer reporting agency from releasing information in your credit report without your express authorization.  The security freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent.  However, you should be aware that using a security freeze to take control over who gets access to the personal and financial information in your credit report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, or any other account involving the extension of credit.  Pursuant to federal law, you cannot be charged to place or lift a security freeze on your credit report.  Should you wish to place a security freeze, please contact the major consumer reporting agencies listed below:

As an alternative to a security freeze, you have the right to place an initial or extended "fraud alert" on your file at no cost.  An initial fraud alert is a 1-year alert that is placed on a consumer's credit file.  Upon seeing a fraud alert display on a consumer's credit file, a business is required to take steps to verify the consumer's identity before extending new credit.  If you are a victim of identity theft, you are entitled to an extended fraud alert, which is a fraud alert lasting seven years.  Should you wish to place a fraud alert, please contact any one of the agencies listed below:

Although we have no reason to believe that your personal information has been used to file fraudulent tax returns, you can contact the IRS at www.irs.gov/Individuals/Identity-Protection for helpful information and guidance on steps you can take to address a fraudulent tax return filed in your name and what to do if you become the victim of such fraud.  You can also visit www.irs.gov/uac/Taxpayer-Guide-to-Identity-Theft for more information.

You can further educate yourself regarding identity theft, fraud alerts, security freezes, and the steps you can take to protect yourself, by contacting the consumer reporting agencies, the Federal Trade Commission, or your 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); 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. You can obtain further information on how to file such a complaint by way of the contact information listed above. You have the right to file a police report if you ever experience identity theft or fraud.  Please note that in order to file a report with law enforcement for identity theft, you will likely need to provide some proof that you have been a victim.  Instances of known or suspected identity theft should also be reported to law enforcement.  This notice has not been delayed by law enforcement.      

SOURCE Florida Keys Community College