Systems Outage

To our PRC-Saltillo Community:

On Wednesday, August 21, PRC-Saltillo experienced a service disruption on our computer network. At that time, we proactively disabled our network (including websites) and investigated the scope and cause of the disruption. The investigation is now complete, and we can confirm that we were the target of a cyberattack resulting in the copying of certain folders from PRC-Saltillo's network.

There was both employee/contractor and limited customer data impacted. Those whose information was involved are being notified by US Mail on or before September 25, 2024.

Additionally, we can confirm that the security event only impacted a limited number of files and folders on our internal network. Data that was contained on customer facing services (Eg., AAC Funding Portal, AAC Language Lab, Realize, etc) was not impacted by this event.

Although communication is our passion, the protection of data is our highest priority. Even though cybersecurity events are unfortunately part of our world today, the advanced security measures we have in place (e.g., multi factor authentication, encryption and continuous monitoring) minimized the impact. Additionally, we use compliant 3rd party systems to handle and secure all credit card information and none of those systems were impacted.

If you have any questions regarding your data, please call our toll-free number set up specifically for this event - 844-218-4459. You can also find additional information about the event here.

The AAC Community has put their trust in PRC-Saltillo for almost 60 years, and this trust is not something I take for granted. I thank you for your patience and understanding as we move through this together and continue to serve our customers around the globe.

Respectfully,
David Hershberger
CEO, PRC-Saltillo

Below includes a listing of interrupted services and the timeline of restoration.

Update: September 3, 2024 as 12:00 PM EDT:
Services Resumed: All PRC-Saltillo websites, email, phones and service ticketing are operational. Please note that some delays or glitches may occur as these services are fully restored and we are quickly working on resolutions.

Update: September 3, 2024 at 10:47 AM EDT:
There are several services available again this morning:

Accent and NovaChat “over-the-air” updates are now available, allowing customers to update their devices via Wi-Fi. We're thrilled to be back up and running to serve our customers. At this point, although customers may see some minor delays in email/phone availability as our employees get caught up, there are no significant outages that remain.

Update: August 30, 2024 at 11:30 AM EDT:
There are several services available again this morning:

iShare is working again on TouchChat and LAMP Words for Life, which will allow you the ability to download and upload your vocabularies. Anything uploaded prior to the service outage will be restored. If you uploaded a file yesterday (8/29/24), you will see a file to download, but the file will be empty. In this case, upload the file again and it will work.
Empower Demo Software and NuVoice PASS Software can be downloaded again from our websites.
Empower Demo Software that has already been downloaded is functional again.
In-app purchases through the upgrade store on our apps is working again; purchases made previously within our upgrade store will now be available.
Our eStore is available now for quotes and purchases.

Thank you for your patience and understanding while this system was being restored.

Update: August 29, 2024 at 5:00 PM EDT:
Here is a list of services that are unavailable or delayed:

Device/Software Updates

NovaChat and Accent “over-the-air” updates are offline, but file transfer from a flash drive is working.
Empower Demo Software and NuVoice PASS Software are unable to be downloaded from our websites.
Empower Demo Software that has already been downloaded is not currently functional.

Purchases that have been made within our upgrade store/ in-app purchases are currently unable to be downloaded - when this is restored, you will not need to re-purchase items.
iShare

Uploading files has been disabled on the websites and within the apps. If you try to upload to iShare, you will see this message, “Due to our system outage, iShare uploads are not properly saving. Please use an alternate backup method such as AirDrop, Email, DropBox, Google Drive or Save to Files." In the app, you will see a shorter "upload error" message.

eStore Payment

eStore is live for browsing and quotes; however, the credit card payment feature is not active
Please contact order management for assistance at 800.262.1933

Website Redirecting

You may need to clear your cache/browser history if a PRC-Saltillo website is still redirecting rather than loading

Thank you again for your tremendous patience as we diligently work to restore services.

Update: August 28, 2024 at 4:30 PM EDT:
We are happy to report that all PRC-Saltillo websites are now live. Please note glitches may occur as these services are fully restored and we are quickly working on resolutions. Thank you for your patience and understanding. We will continue to provide service updates at prc-saltillo.com. Click on the banner at the top of the home page for more information.

Update: August 28, 2024 at 1:00 PM EDT:
Free Acapela voices are now available for download again within TouchChat and LAMP Words for Life. Purchasing a new Acapela voice is still unavailable at this time.

Update: August 28, 2024 at 7:45 AM EDT:
Thank you for your patience and understanding as the entire PRC-Saltillo community continues to be affected with our systems outage. We have some good news this morning!

AACFunding.com is up and running. We are experiencing some backlogs in processing due to the system outage but all application information is available and the site is fully functional. If you have questions, please reach out to 800-268-5224 and press “0” to talk with someone/ leave a voicemail or email your funding specialist or funding@prc-saltillo.com
PRC-Saltillo.com is up and running.
AACLearningJourney.com is up and running.
Other PRC-Saltillo web-based services and sites noted below are still down or incorrectly redirecting, and our teams are working diligently to bring them up securely. Please stay tuned for updates.

Update: August 27, 2024 at 9:00 AM EDT:
We recognize that our systems outage is causing some disruptions for AAC Communicators and their support teams. Here is a list of the services that are currently affected. As systems come back online, we will post updates here:

AAC Funding Portal (AACFunding.com): This is currently inaccessible to customers and to our AAC Consultants in the field; we will update you when it is available. Our Funding Specialists are contacting clients about applications that have been submitted. For specific information, please call us at 800-268-5224 and press “0” to talk with someone/ leave a voicemail or email funding@prc-saltillo.com.
Services that are currently offline:

AAC Language Lab
Realize Language
iShare/ iSharePRC
Message Banking

Device/ Software Updates

NovaChat and Accent “over the air” updates are currently offline
Empower Emulator software, NuVoice PASS and ChatEditor are offline.

PRC-Saltillo Trainings

AAC Learning Journey is offline, but please check out our YouTube sites for quick videos/ how-tos! https://www.youtube.com/@PRCBrand https://www.youtube.com/user/saltillocorp
In-person and live online trainings are proceeding as scheduled. If you have registered for a training, you should be receiving email confirmation with details. If you would like to check on the status of a training or to register for an upcoming training, please contact seminars@prc-saltillo.com or 800-848-8008.

PRC-Saltillo Apps

The Upgrade Store is offline
Acapela voices are not able to be downloaded (if you have a current voice it is working)
Customers are not able to log into their PRC-Saltillo account within the app to access any upgrades

All Company Websites are currently offline

Thank you for your patience as we work to resolve a situation that is frustrating for the entire PRC-Saltillo community.

Update: August 26, 2024 at 11:00 AM EDT:
Thank you for your patience as we continue to bring our websites and systems back online. Below are updates for Monday morning, 8/26.

If you were expecting a shipment from PRC-Saltillo last week, that shipment has been delayed. You will be contacted about a new shipping date within the next few days.
If you have a funding application within the AAC Funding Portal, our team members will be working on those applications. Currently, customers are unable to view their submitted applications, but employees are able to provide updates and may reach out to you with requests for information to complete your application.