The Coast Guard Reserve recently issued a notification to thousands of its personnel regarding a data breach discovered months earlier. According to the notification dated April 18, the breach, detected on January 24, resulted in the unauthorized distribution of personally identifiable information to individuals lacking the authority to access such data. Approximately 10,700 Coast Guard Reserve members were affected by the incident, which coincided with heightened cybersecurity efforts in response to directives from the White House.
The breach exposed the home addresses of 7,554 individuals and the names and employee identification numbers of another 3,146. Investigation revealed that a document used for internal processes inadvertently contained this information in a separate tab, which was then sent to the personal email addresses of 85 Coast Guard Reserve members. While no incidents of fraud have been reported, the Coast Guard has taken immediate steps to rectify the situation and prevent similar occurrences in the future.
Measures include the removal of the separate tab containing personal information from the document and additional training for the individual responsible for the privacy incident. Despite the delayed notification to affected individuals, the Coast Guard acted promptly upon being informed of the breach to mitigate potential risks. In its notification, the Coast Guard advised those affected to review their credit reports and consider placing fraud alerts on their credit files to safeguard against identity theft.
