Boy Scouts of America Notifies Members, Donors and Alumni About Impact of Blackbaud Data Security Incident

IRVING, Texas, Aug. 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Boy Scouts of America ("BSA") is continuing efforts to notify members, donors, and alumni whose information may have been impacted by a recent security incident involving Blackbaud, a third-party provider of customer relationship management software used by the BSA. The organization first updated those whose information may have been impacted last month.

Blackbaud representatives notified the BSA on July 16, 2020, that its systems had been the target of a ransomware attack. Blackbaud reported that the data security incident started on February 7, 2020 and possibly continued intermittently until May 20, 2020. The BSA was one of numerous organizations that were impacted. According to Blackbaud, the attack was successfully stopped, and the cybercriminals were expelled from its systems. However, Blackbaud informed the BSA that the cybercriminals removed a copy of a backup file that it stored as part of its ordinary course of operations. That file may have contained a limited amount of some information about individuals affiliated with the BSA, including names, contact information, dates of birth, limited demographic data and a history of their relationship with the BSA.

Blackbaud advised the BSA that, based on the nature of the incident, their research, and law enforcement's investigation, the stolen data has been destroyed and there is no reason to believe any data went beyond the cybercriminals, was or will be misused, or will be disseminated or otherwise made available publicly. Nevertheless, out of an abundance of caution, the BSA posted a notification of the incident on its website and sent notifications directly to some individuals. The BSA has also established a dedicated response team to answer questions that individuals may have about the incident. Individuals with questions can contact the BSA's Blackbaud Response Center at IT@scouting.org.

The BSA is reminding notice recipients to be vigilant for incidents of fraud or identity theft by reviewing account statements and free credit reports for unauthorized activity. Blackbaud has already implemented changes to its security controls to better protect against a potential future attack, and the BSA is working with Blackbaud and other resources to assess the best path forward.

For more information, please visit www.scouting.org/blackbaud-data-incident 

About the Boy Scouts of America

The Boy Scouts of America provides the nation's foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training, which helps young people be "Prepared. For Life.®" The Scouting organization is composed of more than 2.1 million youth members between the ages of 5 and 21 and approximately 800,000 volunteers in local councils throughout the United States and its territories. For more information on the Boy Scouts of America, please visit www.Scouting.org.

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SOURCE The Boy Scouts of America