Brookfield Zoo Chicago investigates data breach

CHICAGO (CBS) — Brookfield Zoo Chicago said it is investigating a data breach of its network from earlier this year, which may have affected certain details from its systems.

The zoo said in a statement that the suspicious activity happened earlier this year, and some information related to current and former employees may have been accessed.

While there's no evidence of identity theft or fraud, the zoo offers credit monitoring services. According to Brookfield Zoo Chicago, the software systems related to zoo donors, members, and guests were unaffected.

Earlier this month, the zoo announced plans for a $500 million makeover to reshape more than 100 acres of the zoo, which is nearly half of the park.

Statement from Brookfield Zoo Chicago:

Earlier this year, Brookfield Zoo Chicago became aware of suspicious activity in our network. We promptly took steps to contain the event, engaged third-party specialists to conduct an investigation, and notified local and federal law enforcement.

This event did not create any operational disruptions. Our investigation determined that some information from our systems related to certain employees, former employees, and beneficiaries may have been accessed and/or copied by an unauthorized party.

Although we have no evidence that information has been misused for identity theft or fraud as a result of this event, we are notifying those individuals by mail in accordance with applicable laws, as well as providing complimentary credit monitoring and identity restoration services.

To Brookfield Zoo Chicago's knowledge, the software systems that Brookfield Zoo Chicago uses to service donors, members, and guests were not affected.