Friends, We recently were made aware that our third party donor database vendor, Blackbaud, discovered and stopped a ransomware attack on their system. They advise that they worked with independent forensics experts and law enforcement and confirmed that the cybercriminals were not able to access encrypted information like credit card information, banking information, or social security numbers. They assure us that none of Voices for Illinois Children’s data was lost or corrupted as a result of the incident and have no reason to believe any data was misused before they paid a ransom to the attackers. They also have hired a third-party team of experts to monitor the dark web as an extra precautionary measure. Although they did not access credit card information, bank account information or social security numbers, Blackbaud advises that the attackers obtained a backup file that may have contained contact information, demographic information, and a history of relationships with our organization, such as donation dates and amounts. Blackbaud informed us that this information was removed and destroyed after they paid a ransom and they have already implemented several changes that will protect data from any subsequent incidents. We take the security of your information seriously and will continue to monitor developments closely. At this time, we do not believe there is a need for you to take any action but, as a best practice, we recommend that you remain vigilant and promptly report any suspicious activity or suspected identity theft to the proper authorities. If we learn that any sensitive personal information may have been exposed, we will notify potentially impacted individuals directly. To learn more about this incident, you can read Blackbaud’s statement at https://www.blackbaud.com/securityincident. For any questions related to this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at [email protected]. Tasha Green Cruzat
Executive Director
Voices for Illinois Children – Powered by YWCA Metropolitan Chicago
[email protected] | |
