INL urges employees to monitor accounts, implement security practices following data breach

IDAHO FALLS — After the Idaho National Laboratory experienced a massive data breach earlier this week, employees have been advised to follow best cybersecurity practices to keep their information safe.

The breach is being investigated by federal law enforcement, and the information impacts thousands of local workers. The data included names, birth dates, email addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, addresses, and employment information.

INL media spokesperson Lori McNamara said Wednesday that INL is continuing to investigate the data breach. She said on Monday, INL determined it was the target of the breach “in a federally approved cloud vendor system outside the lab that supports INL Human Resource (HR) services.”

Employees have been told to freeze their credit, monitor financial accounts, credit cards, and suspicious activity, and update passwords or implement multi-factor authentication.

McNamara said INL is in the process of establishing a contract to provide no-cost credit monitoring services for employees potentially impacted by the breach.

RELATED | Idaho National Laboratory experiences massive data breach; employee information leaked online

If you become the victim of a data breach, the Better Business Bureau suggests the following to protect your identity.

Don’t overshare online. This means you should avoid posting personal information on social media. Online quizzes and games could put you at risk. Check your credit report and financial statements often. Monitor your accounts for suspicious activity. Make sure to notify companies immediately if there is anything suspicious found. Use strong passwords and change them regularly. Passwords should be complex and unique. Implement two-factor authentication on accounts and devices. This allows another layer of security to all of your logins.

If your social security number is exposed, you can order free credit reports and check for accounts that you do not recognize, according to the Federal Trade Commission. You can place a credit freeze for fraud alerts.

If your bank account has been compromised, contact your bank to close the account and open a new one. Click here for more tips on what to do.