Third-Party Data Breach Impacts BC Community Members

According to national news media reports, many businesses and organizations worldwide have been impacted by a cybersecurity incident related to a widely used filesharing application known as MOVEit Transfer.

While BC does not use the MOVEit software, it has received notifications from two of its vendors that personally identifiable information from some current BC students and employees may have been exposed.

BC has been notified by the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC), and the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (TIAA) that BC information may have been included in their breach. BC is committed to the safety and security of our data and is closely monitoring this situation for any impact on our community. Once we obtain additional information from NSC and TIAA, we will notify those impacted by this breach as to who was affected and what information was accessed. Impacted individuals should also receive notice directly from NSC or TIAA.

National Student Clearinghouse

The National Student Clearinghouse is a nonprofit organization that provides educational reporting, data exchange, and verification services to more than 3,600 colleges and universities nationwide. BC works with the clearinghouse for a variety of purposes including enrollment and degree verification services and student loan reporting requirements. Data provided to the National Student Clearinghouse includes personally identifiable information and education records.

The National Student Clearinghouse has posted details about this incident on its website.

Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (TIAA)

TIAA is a financial organization that offers investment and insurance services to employees across the country working in the academic, research, medical, governmental, and cultural fields. Bellevue College provides the names, addresses, gender, dates of birth and social security numbers of employees who use TIAA’s services. Data transferred from BC to TIAA was not compromised as part of the incident, though the organization has indicated that Pension Benefit Information, LLC, one of its vendors, has been impacted. 

For more information contact TIAA’s National Contact Center 1-800-842-2252.

What steps can I take to protect myself?

The Federal Trade Commission offers recommendations if you think your personal information has been compromised.

Closely monitor your credit reports.

A free copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit reporting agencies; Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

Place a fraud alert on your accounts.

It is free to place a fraud alert on your accounts. A fraud alert tells creditors to contact you before opening any new accounts or before making changes to existing accounts. You can place a fraud alert by contacting any one of the three credit reporting agencies Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.. (A fraud alert at one of the agencies will automatically notify the other two services.)

Freeze your credit at each of the three major credit reporting agencies.

Freezing your credit is a free service that you can put on your credit. You can freeze on your by contacting any one of the three credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

If you believe you are the victim of identity theft, file a police report and notify the Federal Trade Commission at www.identitytheft.gov.

Block Electronic access to your Social Security information

Contact the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213 to block electronic access. This will prevent anyone from being able to see or change your personal information on the internet or by the administration’s automated telephone service.

Moving Forward

BC will continue to update this webpage as new information becomes available from the service providers.