Be Aware of Breach to RYA's Site

 My name is Michael Napolitano. My son has played sports as a part of Reston Youth Association “RYA” the past four years.  I wanted to write this letter to discuss some changes happening at RYA.

On Jan. 18, 2012, myself and several other parents were elected to the RYA Board of Directors after we noticed behaviors and actions that caused us concern.  It started with the actions at the beginning of the year of now former board members working outside of RYA governance and approval to start a new flag football league under a different name. 

These actions and subsequent email communication to RYA families about the new league was not authorized by RYA.  This communication caused some families to sign up for flag football under this new entity.   

Reston Youth Association is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization and the actions and underlying goals of the former members was against the mission of RYA.

In addition, on Jan.19, 2012, Reston Youth Association, Inc. experienced a breach of its website and database by an unauthorized person(s).  The personal information provided to us by members in connection with flag and/or tackle registrations may have been exported by the unauthorized person(s).

 The compromised information includes, to the extent that it was provided to us, names, addresses (city, state, zip), email addresses, phone numbers, genders, and dates of birth.  No financial information, including credit cards or social security numbers, was involved in this incident as our registration payment options are handled through a merchant account that is not stored on our website.  The compromise of the website also resulted in the deletion of database.

We are in the process of contacting the proper authorities and measures have been taken to ensure that this does not occur again.

The new board has been working non-stop for to rebuild the website, accumulate as many old contacts as possible and set up the registration and payment process to restart our flag football season.  This communication is part of that effort to reach out to those effected.  It is exhausting but obviously important work if we are going to move RYA forward as a family-centered, all volunteer, non-profit organization. Thankfully the newly elected board is united in these goals!

I encourage you to go the www.restonseahawks.org to learn more.

Thank you for your time.

Michael Napolitano 

Reston Youth Associtation Board Member