Luzerne County issued a public notice Thursday of a recent “data security event” that may have resulted in unauthorized access to protected personal information.
The county is still identifying what personal information may have been illegally accessed and the impacted individuals so they can be directly notified as required by law, it said.
Specific information on the potential type of data or departments involved was not provided.
Posted as an alert on the main page at luzernecounty.org, the notice said the county recently became aware of suspicious activity associated with one of its email accounts.
“County officials promptly took steps to suspend that account and launched an investigation to determine the nature and scope of the activity with the assistance of cybersecurity specialists. The investigation is ongoing,” it said.
To date, the investigation determined an unauthorized actor accessed the email account and may have viewed information in it.
The county has no evidence that any accessible information has been used in any unauthorized manner, it said.
However, it advises vigilance against identity theft and fraud by reviewing credit reports, account statements and benefit explanation forms to detect errors and suspicious activity.
The public also can activate fraud alerts or credit freezes tied to their name and Social Security number through the three credit reporting agencies, it said:
• TransUnion, 1-800-680-7289 or www.transunion.com.
• Experian, 1-888-397-3742 or www.experian.com.
• Equifax, 1-888-298-0045 or www.equifax.com.
A county call center has been set up for inquiries about the event, it said. The call center is accessible from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays at 1-800-405-6108.
“The county takes the privacy and security of all information within its possession very seriously and is working to remedy this situation,” the announcement said, thanking the public for patience as the investigation continues.
The county had stepped up employee training on suspicious emails following a 2019 cyberattack that interrupted county public services for weeks.
County IT staff said in 2021 the department must protect against tens of thousands of malicious emails, files and websites monthly.
Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.
