SRA warns of possible data breach

SRA International notified the Maryland Attorney General’s Office last month that the personal information of as many as 1,400 Maryland residents might have been jeopardized by a computer network breach.

The company alerted the office Jan. 20 that one of its computer networks had been infected by a virus.

The information that might have been breached includes names, addresses, dates of birth, health information and Social Security numbers. Company computers containing information related to employees’ security screenings might also have been exposed to unauthorized access, according to SRA’s notification letter.

“At this time, we have not determined that any employee, customer or project data has been compromised, but we believe it is appropriate to notify them that data may have been subject to unauthorized access,” said Sheila Blackwell, vice president of communications and public affairs at SRA, in a statement released today.

In her letter to Maryland authorities, Nicole Betancourt, senior corporate paralegal at SRA, wrote that the company also decided to alert its customers, which include federal agencies in Maryland.

The company said the security issue could affect more than just SRA.

Although there is no indication that an employee caused the problem, SRA is continuing to investigate the incident with its in-house information technology security team and its cybersecurity experts, according to the letter.

“SRA takes the security of personal data very seriously and is committed to minimizing the risks associated with the exposure of personal information,” Betancourt wrote.

SRA received $865 million in federal contracts in fiscal 2008, and $65 million worth of its federal business was conducted in Maryland that year. The National Institutes of Health was SRA’s largest customer in the state in 2008. The company provided mainly program management support services for nearly half of the $65 million, according to USAspending.gov.

The company is ranked No. 32 on Washington Technology's Top 100 list of the largest government contractors.