As part of its ongoing internal and public notifications, Macon-Bibb County mailed 12,378 letters on Monday, April 28, 2014, to applicants whose personal information was potentially exposed earlier this month. Along with that letter, we sent safety tips for safeguarding their identity, and the below information and the safety tips are included with this email.
Though the law requires notification only to people with specific information exposed, we notifiedevery person with any type of information included in the exposed files. Earlier this month, we also took the extra steps of notifying every employee of Macon-Bibb County (whether their information was included or not), updating the Commission, and sending updates to the media and public.
To review safety tips about safeguarding your identity, visit www.ftc.gov/idtheft. If you need to access a computer, contact Human Resources and one will be made available to you. Information from the Better Business Bureau about daily steps you can take to protect your identity are also included with this memo.
In addition, we recommend that you obtain a free copy of your credit report by visitingwww.annualcreditreport.com. You will also have the ability to place a fraud alert on your credit report. If you see any suspicious activity, contact local law enforcement and, if necessary, request a credit freeze.
Should you have questions about this situation, the measures that were taken to ensure the information was removed, and/or need to access a computer, contact Desmond Schneider in Human Resources at 478-751-2720 or dschneider@maconbibb.us.
Should additional steps be taken – or opportunities arise for helping people safeguard their identities – we will provide you with that information.
About the Security Breach
On Tuesday, April 1, Macon-Bibb County was notified of a security breach on its website and network. This breach has resulted in the potential exposure of people’s personal information, including social security numbers, driver’s licenses, and birth certificates. On early reviews of the information that was exposed, it appears that information was linked to the online application module used by the former City of Macon, meaning it could impact people that applied for jobs with the City going back four years.
The data has been removed from the web and database server that the hosted the files, meaning it is no longer accessible to external sources and the web server has been locked down internally. The files are now offline and encrypted. The information has also been removed from all web caches that we could locate, and has not been found in any other location. The IT Department continues to search other search engines and internet caches for the information, and an external audit of network security is going to be conducted.