A company wide data breach has reportedly impacted all North American employees at Turner Construction Co. Although the company has a global reach, only the 5,600 employees in North America, including Vancouver and Toronto, have been affected.
The incident occurred when an employee unintentionally exposed PII for Turner employees to “a fraudulent email address.” The employee involved is said to have been unaware at the time that they were being victimized by an email scam, as they exposed sensitive data that included employee names, earnings, and tax information.
Upon learning of the incident, the company responded by immediately launching an investigation with the assistance of third-party cyber security experts. Thus far, Turner does not believe any employee information has been used for fraudulent purposes but they are reminding employees to remain vigilant for any suspicious activities regarding their accounts and to be on the lookout for other means of possible identity theft.
While the construction industry continues to remain as a growing target for cyber criminals, it is becoming more vital for organizations to implement employee awareness training methods to help staff members identify suspicious email activity. Learning to spot suspicious email threats can help employees avoid costly mistakes like submitting payments to fraudulent accounts or forwarding sensitive data to the wrong recipient.