October 24, 2023 at 05:57PM
The City of Philadelphia has disclosed that certain individuals’ information was stolen in a cyberattack involving its email environment. Unauthorized access to city email accounts occurred between May 26 and July 28, and personal information, health information, and financial information may have been compromised. The investigation is ongoing, and the city is working to enhance network and email security. The number of impacted individuals and additional data exposed has not yet been revealed.
Meeting Summary:
In the meeting, it was discussed that the City of Philadelphia experienced a cyberattack earlier this year, resulting in the theft of information belonging to certain individuals. The attack specifically targeted the city’s email environment and was initially identified on May 24. It was revealed that an unauthorized party gained access to certain city email accounts between May 26 and July 28, with access being granted to the information within those accounts as well.
Of concern is the discovery made on August 22, 2023, that some of the compromised email accounts may contain protected health information. The investigation into the incident is still ongoing, with the city manually reviewing the potentially impacted data in order to determine the full extent of the attack. It has been determined so far that personal information (such as names, addresses, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers), health information (including diagnoses and treatment-related details), as well as financial information, may have been compromised. The specific types of information affected will vary from individual to individual.
The City of Philadelphia has taken steps to address the situation, including notifying the US Department of Health and Human Services about the attack. Efforts are also being made to enhance the security of the city’s network and email systems. However, further details regarding the number of impacted individuals and the potential exposure of other types of data have not yet been disclosed by the city.