WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, issued the following statement today following an announcement by MaineGeneral Health that its computer network had been breached:

“Numerous Maine businesses, including those in the health care sector, have told me that they are confronting thousands of attempts to hack their systems and steal sensitive data. Unfortunately, that’s the sad reality of today’s world – where the click of a mouse can have seriously damaging consequences,” Senator King said. “I have contacted the FBI to inquire about the extent and severity of the data breach and will work with the both the Bureau and MaineGeneral to remedy the situation and to safeguard personal information. I will also continue to work to connect Maine businesses with cyber experts in the federal government so that they know where to turn to rapidly respond and prevent further losses.

“Everyone in Maine, in one form or another, shares personal information with businesses. It’s just commonplace today. But it’s also why Maine people deserve the enhanced protection that would come as a result of Congress passing long-overdue cyber-security information sharing legislation. Today’s breach further underscores how we need to push this bill across the finish-line to give Maine businesses, both large and small, improved tools to better protect themselves against cyber-attacks.”

Over the past few years, Senator King’s office has been in frequent contact with a variety of Maine businesses in the health, defense, financial, education, and consumer products sectors to understand how cyber-attacks and data breaches impact them. According to the Maine Credit Union League, data breaches over the past year in have cost Maine credit unions approximately $2 million to replace debit and credit cards and an additional $500,000 to cover fraud. Furthermore, one Maine healthcare provider explained how it experiences thousands of attempts every day to steal confidential data. Those threats led Senator King on August 18^th to co-host a cyber-security briefing with the Department of Homeland Security and Maine State Chamber of Commerce in Portland to inform local businesses about best practices to protect them from cyber-attacks.

MaineGeneral has also established a dedicated assistance line for those seeking additional information regarding this incident and steps that can be taken to better protect against identity theft. The call center can be reached at 1-877-441-2645, Monday-Saturday between the hours of 9 a.m.–9 p.m. ET.

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