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DALLAS – The City of Dallas (“the City”) is providing formal notice of a recent ransomware incident that impacted its network environment. The incident was first detected on May 3, 2023, and the City along with a team of cybersecurity professionals have since been engaged in a comprehensive investigation into the cause of the incident while also conducting an extensive review of any information that was accessed by the unauthorized third party responsible for this incident.
While the investigation is ongoing, it has determined that an unauthorized third party accessed certain servers and downloaded some data from the servers between April 7, 2023 and May 4, 2023. On June 14, 2023 and in the weeks following, the investigation determined that files potentially containing sensitive information of certain individuals were accessed by the unauthorized third party, including full name, home address, Social Security number, date of birth, insurance information, clinical information, claims information, diagnosis, and other identifiers. The investigation and data review process remain ongoing but, at this time, the City has started the process of sending notice letters to those potentially involved in this incident, in accordance with applicable law.
Although the City is not aware of any identity theft or fraud resulting from this incident, it will provide involved individuals with two years of free credit monitoring and identity theft protection services. Instructions on how to activate the credit monitoring service will be included in the mailed notice letter, along with additional information about the measures individuals can choose to take to protect their personal information, such as instructions on how to set up fraud alerts and security freezes on personal accounts.
The City has taken steps to identify and remediate the cause of the incident and encourages individuals to be vigilant in reviewing their financial statements and credit reports on a regular basis to identify any fraudulent or irregular activities. The City has also established a dedicated response center for those affected to send questions and receive assistance with credit monitoring services, which will be staffed by professionals familiar with this incident and knowledgeable on what individuals can do to protect against misuse of personal information. If you believe you are affected, but have not received a letter by August 25, 2023, please call 833-627-2708 Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Central Time, excluding major U.S. holidays.
The privacy and security of the information the City maintains is of the utmost importance and the City sincerely regrets any inconvenience or concern this incident may have caused.
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