[BreachExchange] Data breach hits San Diego low-income preschool provider

[Destry Winant]

https://securityboulevard.com/2020/02/data-breach-hits-san-diego-low-income-preschool-provider/

An intruder illegally accessed an employee email account at
San Diego, California-based preschool education provider Enrichment Systems,
Inc (EES) and may have viewed sensitive personal information of parents and
students, the firm said in a press release last week.

The non-profit organization, which focuses on serving
children ages 18 months to 5 years of age from low-income families, said in a
data breach notice on its website that it became aware of suspicious email
activity on an employee’s account on August 30, 2019. Upon further
investigation, it found unauthorized access of the employee’s account
between May
27, 2019 and July 15, 2019.

The EES gave no further details on who may have accessed the account,
but said it reviewed the email and files on the account to determine
the impact. It “determined that sensitive personal information was in
the emails and/or attachments thereto,” but found no evidence of
“attempted or actual misuse of sensitive information”.

The notice
says information that may be affected by the event includes “individual’s name,
address, Social Security number, financial information, health insurance
information, student education records, as well as medical history and
treatment information.”

Besides notifying everybody whose’ personal information was
in the email account, the EES pledged to provide free credit monitoring and
identity protection services to those affected.

They may also call the dedicated call center for security-related
queries and review the tips on how to protect against identity theft provided
in the notice. The EES advises victims to pay attention to their bank accounts
and monitor their credit reports for any fraudulent activity that should
immediately be reported to the local authorities.

Data breaches go hand in hand with identity-related crimes.
A criminal can use stolen personal information in many ways, such as
registering a false tax return, credit card fraud and acquiring medical
insurance in another’s name. Awareness and vigilance are only key pieces when
it comes to protecting your sensitive information.