New Peoples in Va. discloses 'cybersecurity incident'

New Peoples Bankshares in Honaker, Va., disclosed that its recent systems issues resulted from a cyberattack.

The $813 million-asset bank disclosed on its website that it first experienced aninterruption to the operability of its computer systems on June 15. An investigation by a third-party cybersecurity firm found that an unauthorized person gained access to those systems on June 9. 

The investigation also determined that “some personal information” of customers, shareholders and employees “may have been subjected to unauthorized access.” 

New Peoples noted that all of its systems have been restored and banking operations have resumed.

“Although we had protocols and security technology in place to try to help prevent this access, the unauthorized person was able to evade many of these defenses,” the bank said. 

New Peoples said it has established a dedicated call center to handle inquiries. Customers were also given a complimentary one-year membership to Experian’s IdentityWorks to help them detect potential misuse of personal information.