BUFFALO, N.Y. - We previously reported in January that NYSEG and sister utility RG&E would inform customers of the data breach involving both personal and financial information.
Now through their NYSEG website and a toll-free number (1-877-736-4495), they are offering customers the free one year credit monitoring through the Experian monitoring firm.
This follows standard operating procedure for companies dealing with data breaches. The Federal Trade Commission also mentions Experian as a consulting company for businesses affected by that situation.
Now what about sharing personal information? 2 On Your Side's Ron Plants asked NYSEG's Public Affairs spokesman Clayton Ellis.
Reporter: Is it legitimate to give Experian your Social Security number and other personal information? They have some concerns about who they're actually talking to?
Ellis: Well, first let's understand that Experian is a well known and respected global credit monitoring service. So they should have no concern about who they are speaking with. In fact Experian needs that personal information in order to verify who they are speaking with and in order to help them monitor that individual's credit.
Ellis says about 60,000 customers have signed up for the Experian one year offer which NYSEG is paying for. It is just an offer you do not have to sign up for if you don't want to.
In addition the New York Public Service Commission is still investigating this data breach and also watching how NYSEG responds to its customers. They agree that Experian is a legitimate monitoring service.
So far NYSEG says they're still investigating the original breach, only saying the employee of a subcontractor allowed unauthorized access to the customer data.
But they also stress again there is no evidence so far that anyone's information has been used illegally.
WGRZ