US Internet and cable service provider Cable One recently identified data breach that exposed 14 employee email accounts.
The Phoenix-based broadband provider said in a statement published by the PR Newswire that this incident will affect the personal information of the company’s current and former employees as well as their dependents and families.
The data breach incident happened last May when an unauthorized individual obtained access through a third-party vendor, 14 employee email accounts. According to the company statement, upon discovery of the data breach, they were able to block further access and notified the federal law enforcement.
An independent cybersecurity firm was contacted by Cable One Inc. to investigate the incident. In the statement, it is said that there was no evidence that shows any customer information was involved, as well as internal computer systems or networks.
However, these employee email accounts contain the personal information of employees including their addresses, social security numbers, dependents, beneficiaries, and phone numbers.
Cable One President and CEO Julie Laulis said, “We deeply apologize for any worry and frustration this situation may cause our employees as well as their family members and loved ones. We will continue to invest in cybersecurity to protect the private information of both our employees and customers and learnings from this incident will be incorporated into future security measures to further enhance our cyber defenses.”
Cable One Inc. already notified the potentially affected individuals from the incident and extends help to prevent fraud. Although the company is sure that the information compromised from the attack will not be used for fraud, they are still undergoing an investigation to review and enhance their security measures.
Review Reports and Credit Card Statements
The company urges potentially affected individuals to review credit reports, credit card statements, debit card account movements, health insurance benefits statements and review medical bills of dependents. In case of suspicious or unusual activities, individuals can call the attention of medical and credit providers to do the necessary measures.
The need to contact the health plan insurer and banks must be prioritized to avoid any issues like fraud.
Cable One Inc. is already working with the authorities to identify the suspect of the hacking and is extending help to employees affected.
Despite the incident, Cable One Inc.’s revenue increased to 6.42 per cent or $1.102 billion for the second quarter of 2019.