DALLAS — At least 26,212 Texans had their personal information accessed by hackers due to a ransomware attack against the city of Dallas discovered early May, according to data security breach reports on the Texas Attorney General's website.
The type of information affected by the attack, listed in the report, includes names, addresses, social security information, medical information and health insurance information.
City officials issued a formal notice regarding the breach on Aug. 3, detailing how an unauthorized third party downloaded city data and accessed servers for nearly a month between April 7 and May 4. The city first detected the incident on May 3.
The investigation is still ongoing, but the city is sending notice letters to those potentially involved in the incident in accordance with the 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," the city said in a statement. "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."
Steps have been taken to identify and remediate what caused the incident, the city said, and individuals are encouraged to review financial statements and credit reports regularly to look for any fraudulent or irregular activities.
A dedicated response center has also been established for anyone effected to send questions and get help with credit monitoring services.
Anyone who believes they are affected but haven't received a letter by Aug. 25 is encouraged to call 833-627-2708 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.