Texas Tech Foundation information part of international data security breach

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - The Texas Tech Foundation has reported that certain private information may have been part of a ransomware attack affecting more than 200 organizations internationally.

According to the release from the Texas Tech Foundation, one of their service providers, Blackbaud, Inc., was the victim of a data security breach in May, and notified the Foundation of the breach on July 16.

Blackbaud provides customer relationship management services and software for many non-profit and higher education clients around the world.

The Foundation says while they do not share encrypted information such as Social Security numbers, bank account, credit or debit card information with Blackbaud; personal contact information, dates of birth, titles, names of family members, and maiden names could have been in the data stolen by the cybercriminals.

Blackbaud agreed to pay the cybercriminals to delete the information, and Texas Tech says the company is closely monitoring the Internet to verify that no data has been misused.

The Foundation says they take cyber-threats seriously and are committed to holding Blackbaud accountable, adding that they are continuing to collect as much information as possible on the breach.

At this time, The Foundation says they are not aware of any further action to take, and are not aware of any instances of fraudulent activity connected to the Foundation’s data, but they encourage members to monitor online and financial activity and report anything suspicious.

For more information on this incident, visit the Foundation’s website.

Those with questions are instructed to contact Kevin Vaughn, Senior Director for Advancement Information Services, at foundation.info@ttu.edu or 806.742.8834.