The following is a press release:
Although unaware of any actual or attempted misuse, HEPACO, LLC (“HEPACO”) is providing notice of a data privacy event impacting the security of information relating to certain current and former employees and clients.
What Happened? On August 20, 2019, HEPACO became aware of suspicious activity relating to certain employee email accounts. HEPACO immediately launched an investigation, with the aid of forensic experts, to determine the nature and scope of the activity. The investigation determined that an unauthorized actor accessed certain employee email accounts between August 8, 2019 and October 24, 2019. HEPACO undertook a lengthy and labor-intensive process to identify the personal information contained in the affected email accounts, and then reviewed its internal records to locate the appropriate mailing addresses for the impacted individuals. HEPACO is providing notice to the individuals whose information was present in the affected email accounts at the time of the incident and may have been viewed by the unauthorized actor.
What Information Was Affected? The accessed email account contained information relating to certain current and former HEPACO employees and clients. The type of information affected varies per individual, and includes one or more of the following types of information: name, date of birth, Social Security number, financial account number, medical or health information related to employment, driver’s license number, credit or debit card number, electronic signature, and username or email address and password. For a very small number of individuals, a passport number may have been affected.
Although they cannot confirm that any individual’s personal information was actually accessed, or viewed without permission, HEPACO is providing this notice out of an abundance of caution. HEPACO does not have any evidence of actual or attempted misuse of any individual’s information as a result of this incident.
How will individuals know if they are affected by this incident? HEPACO is mailing notice letters to the individuals for whom they have valid mailing addresses whose protected information was contained within the affected email accounts and may have been accessed or acquired by an unauthorized actor. If an individual did not receive a letter but would like to know if they are affected, they may call the hotline listed below.
What Are We Doing? HEPACO takes the security of personal information in its care very seriously. HEPACO has security measures in place to protect the information in its possession and they continue to assess and update its security measures and training to employees to safeguard the privacy and security of information in its care. This incident has been reported to certain state regulators, and Attorneys General. They are also offering the impacted individuals access to complimentary credit monitoring services as an added precaution. Because HEPACO has insufficient contact information for some of the individuals whose information may be contained in the impacted email accounts, they are providing notice to those potentially impacted individuals by way of a notification published to certain state media outlets.
Whom should individuals contact for more information? If individuals have questions or would like additional information, they may call HEPACO’s dedicated assistance line at (877) 873-7523 (toll free), Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time.