The safety and security of CCS’s constituents is of utmost importance to the College. Recently, a data security incident took place at Blackbaud, a third-party vendor that CCS uses for engagement and fundraising. 

CCS was notified by Blackbaud on July 16 that there was an attempted data security incident that ended in May 2020. While no CCS-owned technology, networks or systems were impacted by this incident, we wanted to be transparent about the incident’s impact on our community members.

We want to reassure our community that CCS does not store credit card numbers, banking information, or social security numbers in the Blackbaud environment and none of these data sets were involved in the incident. CCS takes the protection and proper use of your information very seriously.

Based on the nature of the incident, Blackbaud’s research and third-party investigation and law enforcement investigation, Blackbaud states that it has no reason to believe that any data went beyond the cybercriminal, was misused, or will be disseminated or otherwise made publicly available. Nevertheless, the company has hired a third-party security service to monitor for such activity indefinitely. 

CCS has confirmed that Blackbaud has already implemented changes to protect its system from subsequent incidents. They have identified the vulnerability associated with this incident, including the tactics used by the cybercriminal, and taken actions to fix it. For additional information about Blackbaud’s response, please visit blackbaud.com/securityincident. 

Blackbaud reports that there is no action necessary for constituents, as bank account information, credit card numbers and social security numbers have not been compromised. Out of an abundance of caution, however, CCS is deeply invested in the safety and well-being of our entire community

Nevertheless, out of an abundance of caution, CCS would like to remind its community that it is always advisable to be vigilant for incidents of fraud or identity theft by reviewing your account statements and free credit reports for any unauthorized activity. You may obtain a copy of your credit report, free of charge, once every 12 months from each of the three nationwide credit reporting companies. To order your annual free credit report, please visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call toll free at 1-877-322-8228. You can also visit the websites for the three nationwide credit reporting companies is as follows:

CCS’ friends and alumni are important to our mission to embrace excellence, ethical action, and social responsibility in all aspects of the practice of art, design and scholarship and we value the investments you make in the College and the trust you place in us to safeguard your data.

CCS regrets any inconvenience this incident may cause you. Please contact us with any further questions or concerns regarding this matter at .