City of Clarksville announces major breach of residents' personal data

The City of Clarksville in the U.S. state of Tennessee experienced a data security incident that compromised the sensitive personal information of residents.

 

In a data security incident notice filed with the Office of the Maine Attorney General, the City said that on October 14, it was a victim of a “sophisticated cybersecurity incident.” Immediately, the City launched an investigation, with assistance from external cyber security experts, to determine the nature and scope of the incident.

 

“After an extensive forensic investigation, we discovered on April 24, 2024 that the systems, which were accessed between October 14, 2023 to October 15, 2023, contained some of your personal information,” it said.

 

According to an incident notification on the City of Clarksville’s website, the compromised data included full names, Social Security numbers, driver’s license/state identification numbers, dates of birth, financial account information, biometric information, payment card number, US Military ID Numbers, health information, and USCIS or Alien Registration numbers.

 

The City is yet to disclose the number of individuals affected by the data breach or the nature of the cyber attack.

 

While the City found no evidence of the compromised information being misused, it has advised all affected individuals to regularly monitor their credit reports, account and benefit statements and report any suspicious activity to law enforcement authorities, including the police and state attorney general.

 

It has also offered complimentary identity protection and credit monitoring services through Experian IdentityWorks to all affected individuals.

 

In March, the LockBit ransomware group claimed responsibility for the cyber attack on the City of Clarksville and listed it as a victim on its data leak site. The group gave a ransom payment deadline to the City and after ransom negotiations failed, it published all the data that it allegedly stole from the City’s network.