The Georgia arm of a healthcare agency is warning the public of a security breach that may have put its customers' private information at risk.
Georgia MENTOR, which offers services for children and provides support for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, announced on Wednesday that an unencrypted disk sent by a third-party software provider was lost in the mail on Dec. 21, 2017. The organization reports that the hardware contained documents and sensitive information.
"We immediately launched an investigation to determine the nature and scope of this incident, the types of information involved and the individuals who may be affected," MENTOR said in written statement. "We retained a third-party expert to assist us with this investigation."
So far that investigation has uncovered that the lost data included names, limited medical information, and one social security number. They've found no evidence of "actual or attempted misuse" of the information as a result of the missing disk but can't confirm whether it was accessed.
"Nevertheless, we encourage affected individuals to review financial statements, monitor credit reports and report suspicious activity to the institution with whom the information is shared."
Georgia MENTOR has already mailed notices to those affected and has reported the breach to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as well as "certain state regulators."
Anyone affected can learn more about the incident by calling Georgia MENTOR at 888-818-8990.
