Herkimer College Provides Guidance to Campus Community Concerning National Data Breach

The following notification was sent today to the campus community:

We are reaching out to you about the MOVEit Transfer software cyber incident that has impacted institutions across the nation and three organizations that we work with – the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC), TIAA-CREF, and Corebridge (formerly AIG). Each organization has alerted us of the possibility that the personal information of our students, employees, and retirees may have been impacted. We have been assured by NSC, TIAA, and Corebridge that their systems have been secured and they are working with the FBI and global cybersecurity experts in an ongoing investigation to determine the impact of the cyber incident. Please note this was a third-party data incident, and Herkimer College does not use MOVEit Transfer software.

In the coming weeks we expect potentially impacted individuals will be contacted by one or more of these organizations. In the meantime, you may wish to take one or more of the following steps:

• Obtain a complimentary copy of your credit report from the three major credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.
• Request a fraud alert from any of the three credit reporting agencies. This alert notifies creditors to verify your identity before opening or modifying new accounts. Activating a fraud alert with one agency automatically alerts the other two.
• Freeze your credit with Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. This step adds an extra layer of protection by restricting access to your credit information. Keep in mind, you will need to unfreeze your account should you personally need this service.  
• If you believe you have fallen victim to identity theft, promptly file a police report and inform the Federal Trade Commission through http://www.identitytheft.gov.
• Block electronic access to your Social Security details by contacting the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213. This measure prevents unauthorized individuals from viewing or modifying your personal information online or via the administration's automated telephone service.

Here are links from two of the organizations with more details:

• National Student Clearinghouse MOVEit Security Issue: https://alert.studentclearinghouse.org/
• Corebridge:  www.corebridgefinancial.com/vendor-incident

Again, if you were potentially impacted by the MOVEit incident, you will be contacted by one or more of the organizations.