[BreachExchange] IMB data breach prompts 'comprehensive response'

[Audrey McNeil]

http://bpnews.net/51275/imb-data-breach-prompts-comprehensive-response

A data breach occurred at the International Mission Board that may have
exposed personal information of current and former employees, volunteers
and applicants.

The Southern Baptist entity began a "comprehensive response" immediately
upon discovering the cyber security incident and promptly notified law
enforcement officials, according to a statement released to Baptist Press
today (July 16), parallel to one released to North Carolina Baptists'
newsjournal, the Biblical Recorder, on July 12.

The full text of the IMB statement follows this story.

The IMB said it "deeply regrets any inconvenience or concern this security
compromise may cause" and emphasized that newly implemented protections
"will improve our ability to detect and respond to threats to our data
networks."

The IMB began contacting individuals potentially affected by the
"unauthorized intrusion" on July 6, offering free enrollment in an identity
protection and credit monitoring program, as well as access to a toll-free
call center for inquiries and assistance.

One of the letters mailed to potentially affected individuals was obtained
by the Recorder. It said the IMB "discovered unusual activity in our IT
network" on April 11.

Investigations by law enforcement and independent digital forensic experts
are ongoing, the IMB said. Investigators confirmed to the IMB that an
"unknown external actor" gained access to personnel records that contained
names, addresses, birth dates, contact information, Social Security numbers
and limited health information.

The breach did not affect the IMB's financial systems, email systems or
operational records, the statement said, and that IMB officials have
received no indication to date that the compromised data has been misused.

________________________________

Statement from the International Mission Board on Data Security Incident

On July 6, 2018, the International Mission Board (IMB) notified potentially
impacted current and former employees, volunteers, and applicants of a data
security incident that may have resulted in unauthorized access to their
personal information. The notification followed an extensive investigation
which determined that an unknown external actor accessed a data file within
our IT system that contained personal information of individuals who had
applied to serve with IMB as field personnel, volunteer, or home office
staff. The security issue has been resolved and, although there have been
no reports to date of the misuse of anyone's data as a result of this
incident, out of an abundance of caution, we are offering free support
services -- including credit monitoring and identity protection – to anyone
whose personal data may have been impacted.

Upon initial discovery of the unauthorized intrusion by internal IT staff,
we immediately initiated a comprehensive response to secure our system,
investigate the issue, and enhance data security. The incident was promptly
reported to law enforcement and IMB is cooperating with their ongoing
investigation. We also engaged leading independent data forensics experts
to assist with our own investigation and to help determine what information
may have been accessed. In early June, the forensic experts were able to
confirm unauthorized access to a data file containing application
information including a mix of names, addresses, telephone numbers, email
addresses, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and limited health
information for some individuals. The incident did not impact the IMB
financial systems, email systems, or operational records. Although the
investigation is ongoing, the identity and motive of the unauthorized
intruder remain unknown.

Since investigators were unable to determine access to any specific
individual records, we sent letters of notification to all individuals
whose information was contained in the exposed data file. We also
established a toll-free call center to answer questions and assist with
enrollment into free credit monitoring and identity protection services. We
encourage potentially affected individuals to take advantage of these
precautionary services.

IMB deeply regrets any inconvenience or concern this security compromise
may cause. The company takes very seriously our responsibility to protect
the information entrusted to us. We have already implemented new security
technologies around our most sensitive systems and data, which will improve
our ability to detect and respond to threats to our data networks.
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