Both incidents stem from Nationwide Recovery Services, a collection agency based in Cleveland, Tennessee.
Nationwide Recovery Services provides debt collection services to city government," city spokesperson Eric Holl said in a news release. "There is no indication that anything other than debt collection services data was affected."
According to Holl, the agency informed the city about the issue in a Feb. 7 letter. But the cybersecurity incident dates back to July, and collection agency officials told the city in the Feb. 7 letter that an email had been sent July 14 informing the city of a problem.
"The failure of this information to reach necessary channels is an unacceptable error," Holl said in the release. "We will launch a thorough investigation into how this information failed for so long to reach necessary channels, and we will share the results of that investigation with the public, while taking the necessary steps to ensure this kind of error never happens again. Today, the city attorney's office wrote Nationwide Recovery Services, compelling them to inform everyone potentially affected and to offer them complimentary credit monitoring and identity protection.
"The mayor's office will be aggressive in ensuring that those affected are notified and offered protection in a timely manner."
COUNTY BREACH
An official notification of a breach of protected health information was made Thursday by Hamilton County.
According to the notification — required by federal law regulating private health information — the Hamilton County government received an email July 14, 2024, from Nationwide Recovery Service, which provides debt collection services for delinquent accounts for various parts of county government, with an attached letter.
"The letter confirmed NRS had suffered a cybersecurity event that was reported to federal law enforcement," the notification said.
The company said its investigation was ongoing and additional information would be provided as it became available, the notification said. On Feb. 24, the Hamilton County Attorney's Office received a letter via mail from Nationwide Recovery Service supplementing its July 14, 2024, notice.
"The letter stated that NRS's investigation recently found that there was unauthorized access to the NRS network between July 5, 2024, and July 11, 2024, and that certain files and folders were copied from the system," the notification said.
The company determined the compromised information potentially included names, addresses, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, financial account information and/or medical related information, among other information provided to Nationwide Recovery Service by Hamilton County EMS, the notification said.
The county's privacy officer notified Hamilton County Attorney Rheubin Taylor and Hamilton County Compliance Task Force Chair Commissioner David Sharpe on Feb. 24, the notification said.
"The same day, the privacy officer began an investigation, both internally and externally, of the reported 'incident,'" the notification said.
In response to the investigation, which remains ongoing, Nationwide Recovery Service emailed the privacy officer that 14,084 individuals' protected health information was in the NRS system that was breached, the notification said.
Letters will be sent to the affected individuals as soon as the investigation is complete and all mailing addresses are verified, according to the notification.
The notification advised those who may have been affected by the breach to monitor their credit and medical records.
Those with questions can contact the county's privacy officer, Angela Duncan, by phone at 833-484-8671 or by email at HIPAA@HamiltonTN.gov, and were asked to include the words "HIPAA Breach" in the subject line of their email.
"Hamilton County sincerely regrets that this has happened, and apologizes for any inconvenience this breach may have caused our citizens," the notification said. "Hamilton County government is committed to providing quality patient care, including protecting your personal information.
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