Quincy, IL September 19, 2022 – Today, the City of Quincy, Illinois (the "City") issued notice of a recent data incident that potentially affected the privacy of certain individuals' information. 

On May 7, 2022, the City experienced a cybersecurity incident that affected the accessibility of its computer systems and caused a temporary disruption to certain municipal services. The City immediately launched an investigation to confirm the nature and scope of the incident, working quickly to restore its normal business operations and dedicating substantial resources to the response effort. Through the City's investigation, the City learned that an unauthorized actor accessed certain City computer systems between April 27, 2022 and May 7, 2022 and acquired a limited number of files stored on those systems. The City undertook a thorough review of the affected files to determine whether any personal information was present and therefore accessible. The City finalized this review on September 7, 2022. 

The City confirmed that the information present in the affected files included names, addresses, dates of birth, driver's licenses, Social Security numbers or state-issued identification numbers, military identification numbers, and health insurance information. 

The City is notifying potentially affected individuals by this media release, by posting notice of the incident on its website, and by mailing letters to potentially affected individuals for whom the City has address information. The City is also notifying appropriate regulatory authorities. For individuals seeking additional information regarding this incident, a dedicated toll-free assistance line has been established. Individuals may call the assistance line at (855) 662-8108, Monday through Friday from 6am to 8pm PST and Saturday through Sunday from 8am to 5pm PST, excluding major U.S. holidays.  

Individuals can also find additional information and resources regarding the protection of personal information by visiting the City's website at https://quincyil.gov/cyber. As a precautionary measure, the City encourages individuals to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud by reviewing their account statements and credit reports for suspicious activity.

The City values and respects the privacy of the people it serves and prioritizes the confidentiality and security of the information within its care. The City responded immediately to this incident, promptly notified law enforcement authorities, and has been working diligently to provide impacted individuals with accurate and complete notices of the incident as soon as possible. The City has taken steps to enhance the security of its systems, which included resetting employees' account passwords. The City is also in the process of decommissioning legacy systems and migrating to a Cloud-based email platform. As part of its ongoing commitment to the privacy and security of information entrusted to it, the City is reviewing its existing policies and procedures related to data security. The City is also providing additional training to employees to mitigate any risk associated with this incident and to better prevent future incidents.

CONTACT: Maria Monastra, 267-930-4602

/PRNewswire -- Sept. 19, 2022/

SOURCE City of Quincy, Illinois