RISD announced that there was a data security incident at an outside vendor that led to the school’s data being breached. The school has a contractual relationship with Blackbaud, a software service provider for engagement and fundraising offices, which experienced a ransomware attack. Credit card information, banking information, and Social Security numbers were not accessed because the school does not store this type of information. However, information like constituents’ demographics, degree information, RISD affiliations, RISD museum memberships, and other data internal to RISD and the museum’s fundraising and engagement activities, such as event participation, notes from meetings, donor prospect ratings, and philanthropic giving history were compromised. The school has notified the RISD community and assured people that Blackbaud does not believe that any of the data went beyond the cybercriminal, was misused, or will be made public.

What This Means

When a site is breached, your personal information can be accessed by hackers and can be made publicly available on the internet. Any information of a person has a chance to be exposed, no matter how secure the site can be.

What You Should Do

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