Barrow Co reports computer, email hack

Barrow County Commissioners say hackers gained access to County computer and email systems. Officials in Winder say it happened between March and August of last year, when what’s being called an “unauthorized third party” was able to access to email accounts and some personal information.

From the Barrow Co government website…

Barrow County Board of Commissioners (“Barrow County”) values and respects the privacy and security of its constituents’ information. Barrow County is posting this notice because it has learned of suspicious activity that occurred in its email environment. Upon learning of the incident, Barrow County promptly began an internal investigation and engaged a forensic security firm to investigate the incident and secure its computer and email systems. The investigation determined that an unknown, unauthorized third party accessed certain Barrow County email accounts between March 6, 2022 and August 2, 2022. The investigation also determined that the emails in those accounts may have been accessed and acquired by the unauthorized third party. Barrow County conducted a review of the email accounts contents and determined that the email accounts contained some individuals’ personal information. The type of information at issue varied for each individual, but included a variation of the following: name; date of birth, Social Security number; driver’s license or state identification number, financial account information, credit or debit card information, including the expiration and CVV code, clinical and treatment information, medical provider information, prescription information, insurance policy information, and/or patient account or medical record numbers.

On June 26, 2023, Barrow County sent written notification to the individuals whose personal information was contained in the accounts and for whom it has contact information. Individuals should refer to the notice they will receive in the mail regarding steps they can take to protect themselves. As described in those letters, Barrow County has arranged for complimentary identity theft protection services for those individuals whose Social Security numbers or driver’s license numbers were involved in the incident.

As a precautionary measure, Barrow County recommends that involved individuals remain vigilant to protect against potential fraud and/or identity theft by, among other things, reviewing their account statements, monitoring their credit reports closely, and notifying their financial institutions if unusual activity is detected. They should also promptly report any fraudulent activity or suspected identity theft to proper law enforcement authorities, including the police and their state’s attorney general. Affected individuals may also wish to review the tips provided by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) on fraud alerts, security/credit freezes and steps that they can take to avoid identity theft. For more information and to contact the FTC, please visit www.ftc.gov/idtheft or call 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338). Affected individuals may also contact the FTC at: Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580.

Contact information for the three national credit reporting agencies is as follows: Equifax 1-800-349-9960 www.equifax.com P.O. Box 105788 Atlanta, GA 30348 Experian 1-888-397-3742 www.experian.com P.O. Box 9554 Allen, TX 75013 TransUnion 1-800-888-4213 www.transunion.com P.O. Box 1000 Chester, PA 19016

Barrow County takes the security of individuals’ personal information very seriously and apologizes for any inconvenience or concern this incident might cause. Additional information is available via a confidential, toll-free inquiry line at 888-301-5191 from 9:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. Eastern time.

©2023 Cox Media Group