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VietnameseGriffin: ‘Protecting Arkansans’ personal information and holding organizations accountable for data breaches are two of my responsibilities under Arkansas law’
LITTLE ROCK – Attorney General Tim Griffin today announced that Arkansas will receive
$551,941 as part of a multistate settlement with software company Blackbaud stemming from a
2020 data breach affecting millions of Americans and issued the following statement:
“Blackbaud was deficient in its data security practices and exposed the personal information of
Arkansans as part of a 2020 ransomware attack. The company violated our state’s Deceptive
Trade Practices Act and Personal Information Protection Act by failing to implement reasonable
data security and fix known security gaps, which led to a data breach. Blackbaud then failed to
provide its customers with timely, complete or accurate information regarding the breach, as
required by law.
“Protecting Arkansans’ personal information and holding organizations accountable for data
breaches are two of my responsibilities under Arkansas law. I am pleased with this settlement
and the promise that Blackbaud will overhaul its security.”
Under the settlement, Blackbaud has agreed to make a $49.5 million payment to states and
overhaul its data security and breach notification practices going forward, including:
• Prohibition against misrepresentations related to the processing, storing, and safeguarding
of personal information; the likelihood that personal information affected by a security
incident may be subject to further disclosure or misuse; and breach notification
requirements under state law and HIPAA.
• Implementation and maintenance of incident and breach response plans to prepare for and
more appropriately respond to future security incidents and breaches.
• Breach notification provisions that require Blackbaud to provide appropriate assistance to
its customers and support customers’ compliance with applicable notification requirements
in the event of a breach.
• Security incident reporting to the CEO and Board, enhanced employee training, and
appropriate resources and support for cybersecurity.
• Personal information safeguards and controls requiring total database encryption and dark
web monitoring.
• Specific security requirements with respect to network segmentation, patch management,
intrusion detection, firewalls, access controls, logging and monitoring, and penetration
testing.
• Third-party assessments of Blackbaud’s compliance with the settlement for 7 years.
About Attorney General Tim Griffin
Tim Griffin was sworn in as the 57th Attorney General of Arkansas on January 10, 2023, having previously served as the state’s 20th Lieutenant Governor from 2015-2023. From 2011-2015, Griffin served as the 24th representative of Arkansas’s Second Congressional District, where he served on the House Committee on Ways and Means, House Armed Services Committee, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, House Committee on Ethics and House Committee on the Judiciary while also serving as a Deputy Whip for the Majority.
Griffin has served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps for more than 27 years and currently holds the rank of colonel. In 2005, Griffin was mobilized to active duty as an Army prosecutor at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and served with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in Mosul, Iraq.
He is currently serving as the Commander of the 2d Legal Operations Detachment in New Orleans, Louisiana. His previous assignments include serving as the Commander of the 134th Legal Operations Detachment at Fort Liberty (née Bragg), North Carolina, and as a Senior Legislative Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness at the Pentagon. Griffin earned a master’s degree in strategic studies as a Distinguished Honor Graduate from the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania.
Griffin also served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, and Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs for President George W. Bush; Special Assistant to Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice; Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Arkansas; Senior Investigative Counsel, Government Reform and Oversight Committee, U.S. House of Representatives; and Associate Independent Counsel, Office of Independent Counsel David M. Barrett, In re: HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros.
Griffin is a graduate of Magnolia High School, Hendrix College in Conway, and Tulane Law School in New Orleans. He attended graduate school at Oxford University. He is admitted to practice law in Arkansas (active) and Louisiana (inactive). Griffin attends Immanuel Baptist Church and lives in Little Rock with his wife, Elizabeth, a Camden native, and their three children.
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