GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. — A Triad-based credit union is looking into a recent data breach.
Truliant said one of its old vendors said some personal information got out. Letters have started going out to people who could be impacted.
A Truliant Federal Credit Union spokesperson says a data breach happened at the end of April.
It's unclear how many people are affected, but if you are a Truliant customer, it’s best to monitor your account closely.
The spokesperson said a third-party company — Doxim is responsible.
“Even though it wasn't Truliant’s fault, Truliant’s name is still the one that's attached to this,” President of Trinity Solutions, Inc. Ron Pierce said.
According to the Truliant spokesperson, the cyber security attack resulted in unauthorized access to some of Doxim's files, including Truliant files from 2012.
It's something Pierce, who is a Triad-based cyber expert, said is very common when it comes to data breaches.
“It's usually because of a 3rd party company. It's somebody they trusted that for whatever reason, didn't have the same security protocols in place, and they got hit,” Pierce explained.
The third-party company responsible, Doxim, worked with federal law enforcement to get the compromised files deleted. They found no evidence that Truliant data was published or misused.
The compromised files contain the following information: name, account number, and social security number.
“For the customer, it just means that somebody, somewhere, may have some information about them that they could use against them,” Pierce continued.
Pierce and Truliant’s websites share some things customers should do to protect themselves.
One of the easiest things you can do is change your password.
Another is to report any suspicious activity across any of your accounts immediately.
And continue to keep an eye on things, checking in on the account every day.
Pierce said it's something to take seriously but nothing to lose sleep over.
“This is part of life,” Pierce said.
Along with alerting any affected members — as a precaution, Truliant has offered all customers twelve months of credit monitoring through Equifax for free, including things like identity theft protection and insurance coverage.