If it takes from March 2019, when you first become aware that something might be going on, until November 2019 to notify individuals, is that unacceptably long?
Juniata College is providing notice of a recent incident that may affect the privacy of some personal information. While we are unaware of any misuse of information, we are providing individuals with information about the incident, our response, and steps that may be taken to better protect personal information.
In March 2019, Juniata College became aware of unusual email activity in certain employee email accounts. Juniata College immediately began reviewing this activity and discovered potential unauthorized access to certain employee email accounts. Juniata College commenced a diligent investigation, which included working with third-party forensic investigators, to confirm the nature and scope of the suspicious activity. On April 22, 2019, this investigation determined that it could not forensically rule out unauthorized access to emails within certain employee accounts. While the investigation was unable to confirm whether data in the relevant email accounts was actually subject to unauthorized access, in an abundance of caution, Juniata College undertook a comprehensive programmatic and manual review of the content of the accounts to confirm what data may be present and to whom that data relates. On July 11, 2019, Juniata College received the results of that review and confirmed that there was certain personal information contained within the impacted accounts. Juniata College then worked to identify appropriate contact information for those individuals whose information was identified. On November 1, 2019, Juniata College began notifying individuals for whom we had complete address information about this incident.
While the information present in the email accounts varies by individual, it may include: financial account information, passport number, and limited medical and insurance information. For a limited number of individuals, Social Security number may have also been impacted. At this time, there is no evidence of any actual or attempted misuse of the information accessible within the email accounts.
We take this incident, and the security of personal information, very seriously. Upon learning of this incident, we immediately took steps to secure the affected email accounts. As part of our ongoing commitment to the privacy of personal information in our care, we are working to review our existing policies and procedures and to implement additional safeguards to further secure the information in our systems. We also notified federal and state regulators, as required.
You can find out more about how to protect your personal information in the ‘Steps You Can Take to Protect Personal Information’ section below. Individuals seeking additional information regarding this event may also call our toll-free assistance line at 1-833-399-9454 Monday through Friday, during the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time. You may also write to Juniata College at 1700 Moore St, Huntingdon, PA 16652.
You can read the full notice on their website.