January 24, 2012
New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG) and Rochester Gas and Electric (RG&E) began warning customers on Monday of a security breach that resulted in "unauthorized access" to customer data. The utility companies, subsidiaries of Iberdrola USA serving customers in Central and Western New York, say there is no evidence the data has been misused.
The company says the customer data that was accessed includes Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and in some cases, financial institution account numbers. Company officials learned "earlier this month" that an "employee at an independent software development consulting firm" had allowed unauthorized access to an internal customer database.
While NYSEG and RG&E officials say they don't believe the information has been misused, they are acting out of "an abundance of caution" to inform customers and offer help. Affected customers will be offered a year of credit monitoring at no charge through Experian.
Customers may call 877-736-4495 with any questions or concerns they may have. This toll-free line will be staffed 9am-9pm weekdays and 11am-8pm on weekends.
