AccidentalOtherMisconfigurationCustomer Data InvolvedIdentity (basic)Government IDMediumContained

The Columbus Foundation

bd_fae7d45522d0c5c5 · schema v1 · pii pii-v1

Severity

Medium

Discovered

Jul 1, 2023

Filed

Sep 8, 2023

To disclose

10 weeks

Affected

Not disclosed

Linked

4 filings

Confidence

67%

Full breach record for The Columbus Foundation →

The Columbus Foundation disclosed that in early July 2023, an unauthorized external party posted direct internet links to a limited portion of internal data related to its Gifts of Kindness and Emergency Assistance programs. The exposed data included applicants' names, addresses, driver's license numbers, and Social Security numbers. The organization removed access to the data immediately upon discovery. No evidence of fraudulent access or misuse was found. The Foundation is offering 12 months of identity and credit monitoring through Experian.

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Vermont clock✗ VT AG >45 bday10 weeks discovery → filing

Incident timeline

discovery → filing · 10 weeks / 69 days

Jul 1, 2023

Discovered

Sep 8, 2023

Filed

vs. sector median

+2 wks slower

This filing is one of 4 about the same incident.View merged incident

Linked disclosures

Why this link?

Regulatory filings (3) · sorted by filing gap

Indiana State AGbd_4dff8a1411dab1c22023-09-08Verified
New Hampshire State AGbd_1c954e0a4855b2ea2023-09-11 · +3dVerified
Montana State AGbd_6e85b5718c2dbf4c2023-09-11 · +3dCandidate

Name: The Columbus Foundation
norm: the columbus

Name: The Columbus Foundation
norm: the columbus
Industry: Otherllm

Discovered: Jul 1, 2023
Materiality determined: —
Notification sent: Sep 11, 2023
Affected individuals: Not disclosed
Data types: Identity (basic)Government ID
Data elements: Social Security number
Attack vector: Misconfiguration
Threat actor: External

During the incident: Removed all access to the relevant information
Verified that data that may have been accessible through the posted links was removed and no longer accessible
Worked closely with outside legal counsel and technical resources to examine the source, accessibility, nature, and scope of the potential data exposure
Changes made: Taking additional steps to further ensure that PII is not inadvertently shared by applicants during the Gifts of Kindness and Emergency Assistance application intake processes and related procedures
Offering twelve (12) months of identity and credit monitoring at no cost to you through Experian
Source: Quoted from the filing itself, not independently verified.

Time to disclose: 10 weeks(69 days from discovery to filing)
Compliance flags: VT AG >45 bday
Discovery-date grounding: letter-groundedThe discovery date is the detection date narrated in the notification letter — the defensible tier.

Status: No extraction artifact recorded for this disclosure.

Filing propagation · 4 filings · 4 states

View merged incident ↗

Indiana State AGSep 8 · first

Vermont State AGSep 8 · first · this page

New Hampshire State AG+3d

Montana State AG+3d

Evidence ladder

Leak-site claim

Attacker assertion only. Establishes: claim date, group, alleged victim.

Press / market report

Unlocks: incident narrative, operational impact. Still no compliance clock.

State AG / regulator filingThis record

Unlocks: discovery date, data types, affected count, compliance clock.

SEC 8-K / victim statement

Unlocks: materiality, stated response, full audit trail. Ceiling removed.

Source URL: https://ago.vermont.gov/document/2023-09-08-columbus-foundation-data-breach-notice-consumers
DisclosureLens links to the originating regulator URL — full filing bodies are not redistributed from public surfaces (§4.5).
Filed at: Sep 8, 2023
Raw hash: 3206e5d592f82f0f4c8e57fa1aabf1e44ce52b8a80af919559cf08eb334a5a9b

Linked disclosures

Regulatory filings (3) · sorted by filing gap

Reporting entityThe Columbus Foundation

Victim entityThe Columbus Foundation

Incidentdiscovered Jul 1, 2023

Stated responseRemoved all access to the relevant information

ComplianceVT AG >45 bday

Extraction provenanceno artifact recorded

Source provenanceago.vermont.gov