Hampton-Newport News Community Services Board (HNNCSB) recently discovered that it was victimized by a ransomware event. With privacy and security of utmost importance, the organization is taking action to notify and provide relief to those potentially impacted.

Ransomware is a form of malware used by cybercriminals to gain stealth access to systems and encrypt – or lock up – data to steal important, personal information. These types of cybercrimes are increasingly problematic, and unfortunately, all organizations today are susceptible, despite sound cybersecurity practices and protocols.

Upon discovery of this incident, we promptly took steps to secure our systems and engaged some of the nation’s leading outside cybersecurity experts to assist in the investigation and remediation of this incident. We also notified a variety of law enforcement agencies of this incident, including the FBI, CISA, and the Virginia State Police and its Cyber Fusion Center, and we are supporting their efforts to bring the cybercriminals to justice.

On November 12, 2023, HNNCSB discovered technical disruptions to certain computer systems and, shortly thereafter, determined we were the victim of a sophisticated ransomware incident that began on approximately September 26, 2023, when a cyber gang gained stealth access to our systems. The information involved may have included patient files and other records stored on the affected HNNCSB systems, including one or more of the following types of information: demographic information (e.g., name, social security number, address, ZIP code, driver’s license number, date of birth or similar identifier), clinical information (which may include diagnosis/conditions, lab results, medications or other treatment information), or information related to insurance or claims information.

While we are not certain all the above categories of information were accessed or acquired, HNNCSB is notifying all patients and employees whose information may have been impacted and has arranged to offer credit monitoring and identity restoration services from Kroll at no cost. Notifications will be sent to those potentially impacted by U.S. mail around January 11, 2024.

If you are a former or current patient of HNNCSB and would like to receive credit monitoring, please email us at privacy@hnncsb.org.