RE: Nystrom & Associates. – Notice of Data Privacy Event
Advisory – July 13, 2021 – Recently, Nystrom discovered suspicious activity relating to two employee email accounts. Nystrom quickly began an investigation with assistance from third-party forensic investigators to determine the nature and scope of the incident. The investigation determined that one employee’s email account was subject to unauthorized access from March 19, 2021 to March 29, 2021 and the other on March 29, 2021. The investigation did not uncover any evidence to suggest any patient data was obtained. However, the forensic investigators were unable to determine what specific emails and/or attachments the unauthorized individual may have accessed or viewed. Therefore, in an abundance of caution, Nystrom conducted an extensive review of the contents of the email accounts to determine whether the emails and attachments contained any sensitive information and, if so, to whom the information related. Nystrom is notifying you because the investigation determined that certain information relating to you was contained in an impacted email account.
The information found within the impacted email account included impacted individual’s name, medical information and in some cases, Social Security number. To date, we have no evidence of any of this information has been subject to actual or attempted misuse as a result of this incident. Individuals with questions about this incident can contact us at 833-957-0029.
Nystrom takes this incident and the security of information within our care seriously. Upon discovery of this incident, Nystrom took steps to secure the email accounts and launched an in-depth investigation with the assistance of third-party forensic investigators to determine the full nature and scope of this incident. As part of Nystrom’s ongoing commitment to the privacy of information in its care, Nystrom reviewed its existing policies and procedures and implemented additional safeguards to further secure the information in its systems as appropriate. Nystrom also notified regulatory authorities, as required by law.
Nystrom encourages potentially impacted individuals to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud, to review account statements, and to monitor their credit reports and explanation of benefits forms for suspicious activity. Nystrom is providing potentially impacted individuals with contact information for the three major credit reporting agencies, as well as providing advice on how to obtain free credit reports and how to place fraud alerts and security freezes on their credit files. The relevant contact information is below:
| Equifax
P.O. Box 105069 Atlanta, GA 30348 1-888-766-0008 |
Experian
P.O. Box 9554 Allen, TX 75013 1-888-397-3742 |
TransUnion
P.O. Box 2000 Chester, PA 19016 1-800-680-7289
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Potentially impacted individuals may also find information regarding identity theft, fraud alerts, security freezes and the steps they may take to protect their information by contacting the credit bureaus, the Federal Trade Commission or their state Attorney General. The Federal Trade Commission can be reached at: 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580; www.identitytheft.gov; 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338); and TTY: 1-866-653-4261.
Instances of known or suspected identity theft should also be reported to law enforcement or the individual’s state Attorney General.