Human Service Agency Finds Computer Virus [AUDIO]

A computer at Community Action Partnership in Casper was infected with a virus and personal information of its clients may have been compromised. Community Action Partnership Director Brenda Eickhoff-Johnson says the personal information included names, social security numbers and birth dates.

Off-site database, local computer:

"We actually don't house any of that personal data on our local computers. Because we're worried about security, we do use a national database in order to house that data in order to keep it as protected as possible. What happened is that data was inadvertently exported to a local computer, and that local computer got a virus on it."

Ms. Eickhoff-Johnson says they don't know if any information actually got out but they are obliged to tell the public if there's been a breach in security.

Doubtful but possible:

"We don't know exactly what happened when that virus hit our computer, so we want to make sure that we let the public know that personal information was on this computer. We have no knowledge or belief that this information was accessed. However we do have an obligation to at least get that information out there to individuals who may have possibly have had their personal information breached through this computer."

What clients can do is monitor their credit report for suspicious activity.

Watch for suspicious activity:

"WWW-dot-CAPNC-dot-ORG, and on that website under the news they can see a copy of the press release that went out, and then under the links tab on the homepage is a link to that annual credit report."

If you don't have access to a computer, you can get that once-a-year-for-free credit report by calling a toll-free number.

Credit report without computer: