Utility did not notify customers of data breach for months.
The Mississippi Public Service Commission issued the following statement.
The Mississippi Public Service Commission (PSC) shares reports that Yazoo Valley Electric Power Association was targeted by a ransomware group last summer, resulting in a breach of approximately 20,000 customer records.
“The PSC takes the security and privacy of customer information seriously and encourages all affected customers to take necessary steps and precautions to help protect their information,” stated the Commissioners.
To minimize potential risks, customers are advised to:
- Monitor their accounts and credit reports closely for suspicious activity
- Consider placing a fraud alert or credit freeze on their credit reports
- Be cautious of phishing scams and unsolicited emails or calls
- Educate themselves on identity theft and protection measures
The PSC recommends that customers visit the following websites for more information on protecting their personal information:
- Federal Trade Commission (FTC):
https://consumer.ftc.gov/identity-theft-online-security
- Mississippi Attorney General's Office:
https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/divisions/consumer-protection/
- Mississippi Department of Homeland Security: https://www.homelandsecurity.ms.gov/
The company provided a notice of breach to the Maine Attorney General.
The company did not notify its customers of the data breach until January. A little lagniappe appeared on X.
Akira supposedly made $42 million last year off ransomeware.
26 comments:
Were they drinking a Yoo-hoo while hacking the Yahoo in Yazoo?
{Looks like you've been got by autocorrect. Again.}
Good work, KF.
I live in Yazoo County and this is news to me.
The only reason why the Commission is issuing this press release is because yours truly started pushing for a copy of the notice of breach recently.
Stamps only talks game. He's no different than all the rest.
Couldn't post your comment. The sentence involving the IT went too far.
The reason no one heard about this locally is because the local paper "Yazoo Valley Electric HERALD" never posted anything on this. That may be because the YH's wife's husband WORKS AT YAZOO VALLEY. Their GM has a big 2 years of junior college for education and has never climbed a pole. He does have a very expensive fine new mansion recently completed though.
The Board of Directors need to turn up the gauge on their oxygen tanks and fine the General Manager. The letter that was sent out to the members about this never was even "signed" by him. No signature, no name, not even a "from the Yazoo Valley Electric Board of Directors"... every sole there hiding behind their desk. Everyone needs to jump on one of the several class action lawsuits.....Going to be bigger than big tobacco.....
"The company provided a notice of breach to the Maine Attorney General. " Why Maine, and not Mississippi?
Let me guess. They didn't have MFA enabled on their M365 accounts and some retard clicked on an easily identifiable phishing email. This lead to a domino effect of credentials theft. And their IT Dept. were a bunch of incompetent HBCU grads.
They never even posted anything about this in their little monthly newspaper rag the Today in Mississippi….complete coverup
The members usually can’t get off work to attend their “Annual Meeting” hid on a Wednesday afternoon in the middle of the week… “I just wonder how in the world can someone get selected to be on that n o m i n a t i n g committee???? If you mail in your “proxy” you’re just giving the existing Board of Directors your vote…. They like themselves now
You can google Yazoo Valley Electric 990 form and see their big shot salaries.
Wonder why the “Cooperative Energy Power of 12” didn’t come to their aid??
The general manager at Yazoo Valley makes over $315,000/year in total compensation. And six other office employees are drawing $175,000 and up in total compensation. Wonder how their rate payers feel about this? Especially since most are struggling to pay their monthly light bill. You can look it up online. Even the board members draw a salary.
Hmmm no people of color in management or on the board of directors ….
I’ll pay $5.00 a proxy before next board meeting!!……
Just wondering... Nationally, are there any numbers for IDENTITY THEFT SUICIDES? And why is it sooooo important, now, for utilities to HAVE so much of a person's personal information?
Every time a Yazoo Valley customer drives south through Hattiesburg on 49, just look to your right, and see the big bronze lineman on the side of a pole that your monthly electric bill paid for…..now don’t you feel better?…
Maybe the Yazoo Valley Herald will win some more awards, for non-reporting…
I heard that DOGE is going to audit them because there is federal money involved.
Lighting can crack three times generally before the lights blink or go out completely on that hick system.
It says one person in Maine was affected (necessitating the legally required report by their lawyers) and it says they got 12 months of TransUnion credit monitoring protection (last line). Did all 20,000 customers get this?
Just spit balling here but here's an article idea for the Today in MS...."How we are keeping your data SAFE"!
You can have all the 2FA, MFA and the best virus software in the world in place in any network system, the best of the best personnel in the IT field and the most up to date end user training. BUT, the one thing you cant control is that end users keyboard and mouse finger.
If the email makes it through the spam filter that end user is going to open it and click the bait.
That is a fact of life.
“ I heard that DOGE is going to audit them because there is federal money involved.”
You heard this over lunch with Elon?
i have family and friends that live in Yazoo County and I asked them about this and they said they received a letter telling them about the hack and what they could do to monitor their credit. One of my friends called their office in Yazoo City and spoke to a guy that walked through everything with her. im not sure if you are a customer of theirs or just a sh*t starter. it sounds as if you have other issues. They make medicine for that you know. If you are a customer and want info you may want to do like my friend did. you may sleep easier.😂
oh yeah, i asked about that mansion you talked about and she said that is BS. she knows him and his family. The GM lives in a small old house in the county. No mansion. if you want to be useful to all of us then get your stories right at least. people might take you serious.
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