City of Newport advising past, current employees of potential data loss

 After an exhaustive investigation following the discovery of a suspicious email on one of the City’s internal networks, current and former municipal employees are being notified of a suspected security incident that may have left certain personal information compromised.

Due to the City’s network architecture, no external customer data is believed to have been impacted by the incident, and all online City functions are operating normally.

All potentially impacted parties – including family members – will be notified via written correspondence beginning this week.

This particular incident was discovered on June 9^th following a report of unusual network activity. The City immediately initiated its response plan, powered down or isolated certain devices and systems, and launched an investigation. In addition to working with its own IT staff, the City notified state and federal law enforcement and worked to support its investigation.

Through the investigation, the City learned that there was unauthorized activity in its network beginning June 8, 2022 through June 9, 2022. During that time, an unauthorized party obtained files stored on the City’s file servers.

The City began a careful review of the files involved and determined, on July 12, 2022, that the files contained information used for human resources and benefits purposes for certain current and former employees and their spouses and/or dependents, including names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, financial account numbers used for direct deposit, and information related to group health insurance.

On July 22, 2022, the City will begin mailing letters to individuals whose information was identified in the files and arranged for them to receive a complimentary membership to identity monitoring services.

The City is also launching a dedicated, toll-free call center to answer questions that individuals may have about the incident. The call center will be open to answer questions beginning Friday, July 22^nd  from 9 a.m. until 6:30 p.m., Monday through Friday at 1 855-516-3873. 

Impacted individuals are also being advised to review statements they receive from their health insurers and if they see charges for services not received, they should contact their insurer immediately.

The City takes this matter very seriously and regrets any inconvenience or concern this incident may cause.