County Notifying Some Employees Of Data Breach

From the County Administrator’s Office:

(Martinez, CA) – On March 11, 2022, Contra Costa County, California (the “County”) completed an investigation regarding an incident of unauthorized access to certain County employee email accounts. The County is notifying individuals whose personal information was in one of the email accounts and providing information about the incident and steps they can take.

The County immediately took action to secure the accounts and began an investigation upon first learning of the unauthorized access to the employee email accounts. The investigation determined that an unauthorized person accessed the accounts at various times between June 24, 2021, and August 12, 2021. The investigation did not determine whether any emails or attachments in the accounts were accessed or downloaded by the unauthorized individual; however, the County was not able to rule out the possibility.

In the review of the emails and attachments that could have been accessed or downloaded, the investigation determined that emails and attachments contained information pertaining to certain County employees, as well as individuals who communicated with the County’s Employment and Human Services Department. This information included names and one or more of the following: Social Security numbers; driver’s license or state-issued identification numbers; financial account numbers; passport numbers; and medical information and/or health insurance information. The County is offering complimentary credit monitoring to eligible individuals.

The County began mailing letters on April 15, 2022, to individuals whose information may have been involved in the incident and for whom it has address information. The County is also providing this notice via email and/or website and call center to individuals whose information may have been involved but for whom it does not have a mailing address.

The County has also set up a dedicated, toll-free call center for individuals to call with questions about this incident and is offering complimentary credit monitoring to eligible individuals. Individuals who have questions or those wishing to determine if their personal information was contained in one of the email accounts may call 1-855-604-1854, Monday through Friday between 6 AM to 6 PM Pacific Time. Additionally, the County’s website Homepage at www.contracosta.ca.gov contains information regarding steps that individuals can take to help protect their personal information.

The County takes seriously the security of data and sincerely apologizes for any inconvenience or concern this incident may have caused. The County has implemented additional safeguards and technical security measures and will continue to make further enhancements to the security of its computer systems and protocols.