Students and employees notified of Gulf Coast State College data breach

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) -

Some Gulf Coast State College students and employees received a letter from school officials, dated Sept. 28, about a data breach that took place back between March 31, 2020 and June 3, 2020.

The letter said officials learned a hacker accessed several employees' email accounts.

It also states the school launched its own investigation but officials could not determine if the hacker ever access any contents in the emails.

They say they combed through the contents themselves to identify any possible information that could have been attained.

For those who got the letter, officials said information including their Social Security number was among the contents in the hacked emails.

It further advises the student to review account statements and credit reports for any unauthorized activity.

In addition, officials said they are providing identity monitoring services to those affected free for one year.

Gulf Coast State College officials released this statement to NewsChannel 7:

"At Gulf Coast State College, we understand the importance of protecting and securing personal information and other data that we maintain. However, there are people in this world that spend every minute and hour of every day trying to hack and breach systems like ours. Unfortunately, the college was recently the target of a successful cybersecurity incident and some of our data was accessed.

Upon first learning of the unauthorized access, the College IT department took immediate action to secure all College accounts. Our risk management consortium staff and cybersecurity insurance provider were immediately contacted resulting in an independent forensic team being hired to perform an in-depth investigation. The forensic investigation just recently concluded, and any impacted employees and students received a letter with further individualized information.

Please know that the College continues to hold cybersecurity as a top institutional priority. Unfortunately, these types of activities seem to be on the increase worldwide. Fortunately, we have access to leading experts that are helping us respond to this event and help bolster our security against future attacks."

Again, officials said they really have no certain answer if any personal information was accessed but they encourage all affected students and employees the remain vigilant.

Copyright 2020 WJHG. All rights reserved.