14 DAY TRIAL // In mid-December 2013, the North East King County Regional Public Safety Communication Agency (NORCOM) was alerted of a security breach. The targeted server contained personal information and medical response records.
NORCOM – the Bellevue, Washington company that provides emergency service communications for emergency fire, police and medical services agencies – has taken the breached server offline.
The device contained information on around 6,000 medical responses, including names, addresses, dates of birth, details on the emergency, and initial medical condition.
In addition, the server also held the social security numbers, dates of birth, driver’s license data, emergency contact, and limited medical information of 231 full-time and volunteer firefighters working at Duvall Fire District 45, Skykomish Fire Department or Snoqualmie Pass Fire & Rescue.
The organization has clarified that the breached server is not connected to the 911 computer system. Authorities have been called in to investigate the incident.
“Immediately when the breach was discovered, NORCOM took swift actions to identify and analyze the depth of the breach; we are working with the Bellevue Police Department and with the United States Secret Service’s Electronic Crimes Task Force on this investigation,” stated Tom Orr, executive director of NORCOM.
“We have begun notifying the people whose information was potentially compromised. Security and professionalism are paramount to NORCOM; we are implementing enhanced, significant security measures to prevent the potential for future compromise.”
People affected by the breach can contact NORCOM at the email address “hotline (at) norcom (dot) .org” or by calling the number 425.646.8011. The organization is not offering free credit and identity protection services, but advises impacted individuals to place a fraud alert on their accounts by contacting one of the three major credit bureaus.