Coast Guard Reserve responds to data breach in cybersecurity drive

Nearly three months after someone improperly sent personally identifiable information to unauthorized recipients, the Coast Guard Reserve announced Tuesday that it had alerted thousands of its personnel about the data breach last week. confirmed.

An April 18 notice from the Coast Guard Reserve warned that a data breach discovered on January 24 resulted in non-public material being distributed to “individuals not authorized to view the information.” said a former coast guard officer who received the notification on condition of anonymity. he told Military Times.

The incident affected 10,700 Coast Guard reserve officers and came amid calls from the White House for the Maritime Administration to strengthen cybersecurity at U.S. ports.

The Coast Guard said the home addresses of 7,554 people and the names and employee identification numbers of an additional 3,146 people were accidentally released. The agency's investigation into the incident revealed a separate tab of documents used for internal processes that sent information to the personal email addresses of 85 Coast Guard Reserve officers, the agency said.

“No incidents of fraud related to this incident have been reported to the Coast Guard,” the agency said, outlining steps it is taking to prevent similar incidents from occurring.

Coast Guard officials said the agency where the incident occurred has since deleted other tabs in the document that contained personally identifiable information, and the anonymous individuals responsible for the privacy incident have not been able to properly access such sensitive information. He added that he had received additional training to protect himself.

Asked why it took nearly three months to notify those affected of the incident, the Coast Guard said those who had fraudulently received their personal information should “immediately” report it to the agency's Privacy Office and that the agency said it had begun the process of notifying those affected once the full details of the incident were known. Privacy case confirmed.

In a notice, the Coast Guard urges those affected to carefully review their credit reports and contact one of the major credit reporting agencies to ensure protection from possible identity theft. encouraged them to set up fraud alerts on their credit files.

In an era where highly classified military documents can be illegally shared on social media platforms, the Department of Defense is no stranger to sensitive personal information being accidentally spread online. Security breaches that compromise current and former military data have also occurred in the Army National Guard, Marine Corps Reserve, and Navy. And earlier this year, DefenseScoop reported that the Pentagon was in the process of warning thousands of people that their data may have been exposed in the previous year's breach.

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A 2020 Rand Corporation report on the Coast Guard's data needs notes that human resources data is particularly sensitive and, as a result, can be a particularly attractive target for malicious actors. .

But as the Coast Guard reviews how it manages the security of its personnel's personal information, it also faces the task of taking on more responsibility from the White House for responding to malicious cyber activity against U.S. ports, according to a 2018 report. According to a fact sheet published in January, one month after the most recent breach occurred.

An executive order issued by President Joe Biden in February gave the Coast Guard authority to control the movement of vessels that pose known or suspected cyber threats to U.S. maritime infrastructure, according to a fact sheet. That's what it means.

The Coast Guard has acknowledged a surge in cyber threats aimed at disrupting systems between U.S. ships, shipyards, waterways and port facilities. A 2023 Coast Guard Cyber ​​Command report outlines an increase in reported threats to critical infrastructure, including attacks believed to be linked to Chinese-backed groups.

“The impact of cyberattacks on port infrastructure goes far beyond economic losses,” Maj. Gen. John Vann, commander of Coast Guard Cyber ​​Command, said in a release earlier this month. “Disruptions in supply chains can have cascading effects on the global economy, impacting industries and livelihoods.”

The Coast Guard has three active cyber protection teams and one reserve team searching for the nation's bad actors, according to the release. The service added that it will also soon begin training 1,200 active marine scientists and engineers, who will likely be the first line in spotting cyber problems.