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SpanishThe Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians (the “tribe”) is posting this statement on its website to provide further details regarding the February 9, 2025, ransomware attack that it previously announced (the “Incident”). As a sovereign nation, the tribe takes the confidentiality and privacy of its members, employees, and patrons seriously. Upon learning of the incident, the tribe immediately shut down its IT systems to contain the incident and prevent any further harm to its operations and the security of its members’, patrons’ and employees’ information. Additionally, the tribe engaged external legal and cybersecurity experts who worked with law enforcement to investigate and contain the incident and to assist the tribe in deploying enhancements to its IT system to prevent future attacks. The tribe’s chairman, Austin Lowes, also announced on Feb. 25, 2025, “[i]f we determine your personal information was exposed, the tribe will send you a letter with information about how to sign up for credit monitoring service that we will provide at no charge to you.”
Following a complex, time-consuming review of the information that was compromised, the tribe was able to identify those individuals whose personal information may have been accessed without authorization, which included name and address and may have included one or more of the following: date of birth, Social Security number, Driver’s License or state-issued Identification number, email address, phone number, medical information, health insurance policy information, and, in a limited number of cases, financial account numbers and/or passport numbers. Letters to affected individuals were mailed out on Aug. 28, 2025, explaining the Incident and what the tribe is doing to protect them from any potential misuse of their information.
To protect those affected by the Incident, the tribe has engaged the services of IDX, a leading consumer identity protection service to manage the notification to affected members, patrons and employees and to enroll affected individuals in the complimentary 12-month identity protection services through IDX. If you believe you are affected by this Incident and did not receive a notification letter, please contact IDX at 855‑202‑2043 Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. EST or going to https://response.idx.us/SSMTCI. While at this time there is no evidence that any information has been misused, we encourage you to take full advantage of this free service offering. IDX representatives have been fully versed on the incident and can answer questions or concerns you may have regarding protection of your personal information. Additionally, if you received notice that your personal information was impacted, it is recommended that you remain vigilant and consider taking one or more of the additional steps to protect your information set forth in the Recommended Steps to help Protect your Information.
Please be assured that the tribe continues to improve on its cyber security and has taken every step necessary to contain and address this Incident.