Notice of Data Breach

The County of Tehama, California is committed to protecting the confidentiality of the information we maintain. This notice describes a data security incident that may have involved information pertaining to certain current and former County of Tehama employees, recipients of services from the County of Tehama Department of Social Services, and other affiliated individuals.

What Happened: On August 19, 2022, the County of Tehama concluded its investigation of a data security incident that resulted in unauthorized access to County of Tehama Department of Social Services files. The County of Tehama first learned about the incident on April 9, 2022, when we detected suspicious activity on our IT systems. Upon identifying this suspicious activity, we immediately took steps to protect and secure our systems. The County of Tehama also launched an investigation and notified law enforcement. Through our investigation, we determined that an unauthorized party gained access to our IT network between the dates of November 18, 2021 and April 9, 2022. The investigation further determined that the unauthorized party accessed files on the County of Tehama Department of Social Services’ systems.

What Information Was Involved: The County of Tehama conducted a review of the files that may have been accessed as a result of this incident. Through this review, we determined that information pertaining to certain current and former County of Tehama employees, recipients of services from the County of Tehama Department of Social Services, and other affiliated individuals was contained in one or more of those files. This information included individuals’ names, dates of birth, mailing addresses, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, and information related to services received from County of Tehama Department of Social Services.

What We Are Doing: On November 17, 2022, the County of Tehama began mailing letters to individuals whose information may have been involved in the incident. We are offering complimentary credit monitoring and identity theft protection services to individuals whose Social Security numbers or driver’s license numbers were involved. We also have established a dedicated, toll-free incident response line to answer questions that individuals may have. To help prevent a similar incident from occurring in the future, we have implemented enhanced monitoring and alerting software.

What You Can Do: To date, the County of Tehama has not received any reports of fraud related to this incident. However, we recommend that individuals whose information may have been involved remain vigilant to the possibility of fraud by reviewing their financial account statements and immediately reporting any suspicious activity to their financial institution.

For More Information: We deeply regret any inconvenience or concern this may cause. If individuals have any questions about this incident or believe their information may have been involved, they should call 855-926-1376, Monday through Friday, between 6:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Pacific Time.