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Current and former employees of Chemeketa Community College may have had Social Security numbers and other sensitive data exposed in a breach of a vendor that manages retirement plans for tens of thousands of Oregon educators.
The college’s announcement came after the Salem-Keizer School District on Wednesday said its employees also had sensitive information exposed by the same vendor.
Tigard-based Carruth Compliance Consulting announced Monday that sensitive data on the firm’s network was accessed without authorization between Dec. 19 and 26, 2024 and “certain files were copied from our systems.” The company learned of the breach on Dec. 21.
Chemeketa president Jessica Howard notified employees via email Thursday afternoon. Other Oregon school districts, including Portland, Hillsboro and Beaverton, were also affected.
The breach potentially exposed data for anyone who has worked for the college since 2008, regardless of whether Carruth managed their retirement plan savings, according to Howard’s email. The information exposed could include names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, Chemeketa email addresses, street address and contribution amounts to 403(b) and 457(b) retirement savings accounts.
She said the college would no longer use Carruth to process retirement contributions for the foreseeable future.
Affected employees can receive free credit monitoring through the breach response service IDX, Carruth said, by calling (877) 720-7895 to enroll. The company said it had also reported the breach to the FBI.
Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.
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Rachel Alexander is Salem Reporter’s managing editor. She joined Salem Reporter when it was founded in 2018 and covers city news, education, nonprofits and a little bit of everything else. She’s been a journalist in Oregon and Washington for a decade. Outside of work, she’s a skater and board member with Salem’s Cherry City Roller Derby and can often be found with her nose buried in a book.