At Women’s Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh, we hold donor privacy in the highest regard and safeguarding sensitive donor information remains our highest priority.
We recently learned of a data security incident involving Blackbaud Inc., an industry-leading database management system that Women’s Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh uses along with thousands of other nonprofit organizations across the country.
Based on our communications with Blackbaud, we understand that while a ransomware attack occurred between February 7, 2020 and May 20, 2020, the perpetrators of the attack did not access credit card information, bank account information, or social security numbers. Demographic information such as contact information, names, emails and physical addresses, however, may have been affected. It is important to note that this breach only affected the data saved on Blackbaud’s servers and has no impact on information that Women’s Center & Shelter manages independently on its internal servers, which includes client data related to services.
Blackbaud has since implemented changes to protect itself from further data security incidents and has ensured that any stolen data has been destroyed and is no longer in possession of the attackers. Blackbaud’s research, as well as an independent third-party investigation, also suggests there is no reason to believe that this information will be misused or shared publicly. You can read Blackbaud’s statement regarding the incident at www.blackbaud.com/securityincident.
Though this security incident was out of our control, Women’s Center & Shelter is also committed to enhancing our own security measures as we’ve recently contracted with a local global management consulting and technology firm to further develop our IT infrastructure.
As a safety precaution and best practice, we recommend you remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to us and law enforcement authorities. The PA Office of the Attorney General can be contacted at 717-787-3391.
You may also wish to obtain a copy of your free credit reports from one or more of the following:
Equifax, www.equifax.com, 1-866-349-5191
Experian, www.experian.com, 1-888-397-3742
TransUnion, www.transunion.com, 1-800-888-4213
We are thankful for your support of Women’s Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh and hope that you know we take every precaution to keep your information safe and secure. If you have any questions or would like to discuss this further, please contact Kristin Brown, Chief Development Officer, at brownk@wcspittsburgh.org or 412-894-4551 (direct line).
