City of Philadelphia says 2023 data breach impacted over 35,000 citizens

The City of Philadelphia said it experienced a data security incident that compromised the sensitive personal information of more than 35,000 individuals.

 

In a data breach notice filed with the Office of Maine Attorney General, city officials said that on May 23, 2023, the City identified suspicious activity in its email environment and immediately launched an investigation, with assistance from external cyber security experts, to determine the nature and scope of the incident.

 

“The investigation determined that between May 26, 2023 and July 28, 2023, an unauthorised actor gained access to certain City email accounts and that certain information contained in those accounts was potentially accessible,” reads the notice.

 

The City said in its filing that the investigation did not confirm whether the threat actor accessed or acquired any sensitive personal information of residents. However, in its earlier announcement, it said that the compromised data included names, addresses, dates of birth, social security numbers, contact information, medical information, and limited financial information, such as claims information.

 

The City’s filing with the Maine state regulator also revealed that at least 35,881 individuals were impacted by the incident.

 

“Upon becoming aware of the event, we moved quickly to investigate and respond to the event, assess the security of our network and email tenant, and notify potentially affected individuals,” the City added.

 

While the City found no evidence of the compromised information being misused, it 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 one year of complimentary identity protection and credit monitoring services through Kroll to all affected individuals.