Berkshire Farm Center & Services for Youth, Inc. Provides Notice of a Data Breach

CANAAN, N.Y., Sept. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Berkshire Farm Center & Services for Youth, Inc. ("Berkshire") provides notice of an incident that may affect the security of some information relating to certain individuals affiliated with Berkshire.

What Happened? On July 16, 2020, Berkshire's third-party vendor, Blackbaud, informed us that, in May 2020, Blackbaud suffered a ransomware attack which resulted in potential unauthorized access to certain information maintained by Blackbaud. Upon learning of this event, Berkshire immediately commenced an investigation to determine what, if any, Berkshire data was impacted.  Please know that we take this incident and the security of our information seriously, and we are diligently working to determine the full nature and scope of this incident.

What Information Was Involved?  Berkshire has no evidence of actual or attempted misuse of any personal information.  The information potentially subject to unauthorized access included names, addresses, Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, financial account information, medical information, and treatment information.

What Berkshire is Doing.  Berkshire has worked diligently to gather further information from Blackbaud to understand the incident.  We are reviewing our existing policies and procedures regarding our third-party vendors, and are working with Blackbaud to evaluate additional measures and safeguards to protect against this type of incident in the future.  As an added precaution, Berkshire is offering impacted individuals with access to credit monitoring through TransUnion at no cost to those individuals.  We are also notifying the Department of Health and Human Services and other regulators of this incident as required.

What You Can Do.  We encourage you to review the information provided below regarding ways you can help protect your personal information should you deem it necessary to do so.  Berkshire also encourages you to review your financial and account statements and explanation of benefits forms and report all suspicious activity to the institution that issued the record immediately. 

For More Information.  Berkshire has established a dedicated assistance line for individuals seeking information regarding this incident.  Individuals may call 1-800-939-4170, Monday through Friday, 9am to 9pm Eastern Time for additional information.  Additional information can also be found on Berkshire's website, www.berkshirefarm.org.  Potentially affected individuals may also consider the information and resources outlined below. 

Berkshire encourages potentially impacted individuals to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud and to review account statements, credit reports, and explanation of benefits forms for suspicious activity.  Under U.S. law, individuals with credit reports 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.  Individuals may also contact the three major credit bureaus directly to request a free copy of their credit report. The credit reporting agencies may be contacted as follows: 

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 also encourages those who discover that their information has been misused to file a complaint with them. 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); and TTY: 1-866-­653-4261. Instances of known or suspected identity theft should be reported to law enforcement, your Attorney General, and the FTC. You can also further educate yourself about placing a fraud alert or security freeze on your credit file by contacting the FTC or your state's Attorney General.

For New York residents, the Attorney General may be contacted at: Office of the Attorney General, The Capitol, Albany, NY 12224-0341; 1-800-771-7755; https://ag.ny.gov/.

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SOURCE Berkshire Farm Center & Services for Youth, Inc.