After discovering about the breach, Grass Valley stated that they took quick steps to safeguard their networks, alerted law enforcement, and launched an investigation with the help of a cybersecurity firm.
The information of employees, citizens, and others was duplicated and transmitted to another network, according to more details about a significant data breach at the City of Grass Valley, California.
The city council previously admitted that "unauthorised access" to its networks occurred between April 13 and July 1, 2021, according to a statement.
The scope of the attack has now been determined, with the malicious actor transferring files outside of the city's network, including the financial and personal information of "individuals associated with Grass Valley," according to the investigation.
The following information was accessed:
- Grass Valley employees, former employees, spouses, dependents, and individual vendors, name and one or more of the following: Social Security number, driver’s license number, and limited medical or health insurance information.
- Individual vendors that were employed by the city, name, and Social Security number.
- Individuals whose information may have been provided to the Grass Valley Police Department, name and one or more of the following: Social Security number, driver’s license number, financial account information, payment card information, limited medical or health insurance information, passport number, and username and password credentials to an online account.
- Individuals whose data was provided to the Grass Valley Community Development Department in loan application documents, name and one or more of the following: Social Security number, driver’s license number, financial account numbers, and payment card numbers.
Grass Valley stated it started contacting those affected on January 7 and has notified the appropriate authorities, including law enforcement. For everyone affected by the hack, the city is also providing free credit monitoring services.
It noted, “Grass Valley sincerely regrets that this incident occurred and apologizes for any inconvenience or concern. To help prevent something like this from happening again, Grass Valley continues to review its systems and is taking steps to enhance existing security protocols.”
