New York’s Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corporation recently began alerting its customers by phone, mail and e-mail that their banking information may have been accessed as a result of a recent cyber attack.
“Central Hudson serves approximately 300,000 electric customers and 75,000 natural gas customers in from eastern Putnam County north to the capital district area south of Albany,” writes LoHud.com’s Barbara Livingson Nackman.
“The company is currently conducting an internal investigation into the extent and scope of the attack, in cooperation with local police, said Central Hudson Spokesman John Maserjian,” writes The Register Star’s Kyle Adams. “So far, the customer banking information seems to have been the only target, he said.”
“Out of an abundance of caution, we are recommending that all customers monitor their credit reports and bank accounts in order to detect any unauthorized activity,” Central Hudson president James P. Laurito said in a statement. “There is no evidence yet that the information was downloaded or misused; however, Central Hudson would prefer to err on the side of extra caution in alerting customers to always take seriously the potential for theft.”
“Some customers have expressed dissatisfaction about the company notifying them by automated message,” write The Poughkeepsie Journal’s Craig Wolf, Nina Schutzman and Roberto Cruz. “Others said they are upset that the company is seemingly putting the ‘burden’ of reporting suspicious activity to financial institutions on the customers. ‘We’ve got a real problem here,’ John Collins, 56, of the City of Beacon said. ‘The burden should not be on the customer, the burden should be on Central Hudson to provide services that protect against fraud.'”
