Data Security

Wednesday, November 25, 2020

What Happened 
We were recently notified by one of our third-party service providers, Blackbaud Inc., of a security incident. At this time, we understand they discovered and stopped a ransomware attack. After discovering the attack, the service provider’s Cyber Security team—together with independent forensics experts and law enforcement—successfully prevented the cybercriminal from blocking their system access and fully encrypting files; and ultimately expelled them from their system. Prior to being locked out of the system, the cybercriminal removed a copy of our backup file containing your personal information. This occurred at some point beginning February 7, 2020, and could have continued intermittently until May 20, 2020.

What Information Was Involved 
It is important to note that the cybercriminal did not access credit card information, bank account information, or social security numbers – nor does SAMA store that type of information. However, we have determined that the file removed may have contained contact information, demographic information, and a history of your relationship with our organization, such as donation dates and amounts.

Because protecting customers’ data is their top priority, our service provider paid the cybercriminal’s demand with confirmation that the copy they removed had been destroyed.  Based on the nature of the incident, their research, and third party (including law enforcement) investigation, which took place over several months, we have no reason to believe that any data went beyond the cybercriminal, was or will be misused, or will be disseminated or otherwise made available publicly. 

What We Are Doing 
We are notifying you so that you can take immediate action to protect yourself. Ensuring the safety of our constituents’ data is of the utmost importance to us. As part of their ongoing efforts to help prevent something like this from happening in the future, Blackbaud has already implemented several changes that will protect your data from any subsequent incidents. 

First, the provider’s teams were able to quickly identify the vulnerability associated with this incident, including the tactics used by the cybercriminal, and took swift action to fix it. They have confirmed through testing by multiple third parties, including the appropriate platform vendors, that their fix withstands all known attack tactics. Additionally, they are accelerating our efforts to further harden their environment through enhancements to access management, network segmentation, deployment of additional endpoint and network-based platforms. 

What You Can Do 
As a best practice, we recommend you remain vigilant and promptly report any suspicious activity or suspected identity theft to the proper law enforcement authorities.   

For More Information 
We sincerely apologize for this incident and regret any inconvenience it may cause you. Should you have any further questions or concerns regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact the Museum. 

Contact person:   Ann Fienman, Director of Membership & Development Operations
   210-978-8133 /  membership@samuseum.org