07-24-2017 , 05:08 PM
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/news/20170...ty-numbers Hackers had access to millions of Social Security numbers
By The Associated Press
Posted Jul 23, 2017 at 12:48 AM
TOPEKA, Kan. — Hackers who breached a Kansas Department of Commerce data system in March had access to more than 5.5 million Social Security numbers in 10 states, along with 805,000 more accounts that didn’t include the Social Security numbers, according to records obtained from the agency.
The department will be required to pay for credit monitoring for most of the victims of the hacking, according to records obtained through an open records request by the Kansas News Service.
Besides Kansas, the other states affected by the hack are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Delaware, Idaho, Maine, Oklahoma, Vermont, and Illinois.
The suspicious activity was discovered March 12 by America’s Job Link Alliance-TS, the commerce department division that operates the system. It was isolated March 14 and the FBI was contacted the next day, according to testimony from agency officials to the Legislature this spring. The Kansas News Service filed its open records request May 24 and the commerce department fulfilled the request Wednesday.
A commerce department representative didn’t immediately return a call Friday from The Associated Press seeking comment.
The data is from websites that help people find jobs, such as Kansasworks.com, where people can post resumes and search job openings. At the time of the hack, Kansas was managing data for 16 states but not all the states were affected.
After the hack, AJLA-TS officials called in a third-party IT company specializing in forensic analysis to verify the coding error the hackers exploited was fixed and to identify victims.
The call center for victims, which can be reached at 844-469-3939, will remain open through the end of July.
By The Associated Press
Posted Jul 23, 2017 at 12:48 AM
TOPEKA, Kan. — Hackers who breached a Kansas Department of Commerce data system in March had access to more than 5.5 million Social Security numbers in 10 states, along with 805,000 more accounts that didn’t include the Social Security numbers, according to records obtained from the agency.
The department will be required to pay for credit monitoring for most of the victims of the hacking, according to records obtained through an open records request by the Kansas News Service.
Besides Kansas, the other states affected by the hack are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Delaware, Idaho, Maine, Oklahoma, Vermont, and Illinois.
The suspicious activity was discovered March 12 by America’s Job Link Alliance-TS, the commerce department division that operates the system. It was isolated March 14 and the FBI was contacted the next day, according to testimony from agency officials to the Legislature this spring. The Kansas News Service filed its open records request May 24 and the commerce department fulfilled the request Wednesday.
A commerce department representative didn’t immediately return a call Friday from The Associated Press seeking comment.
The data is from websites that help people find jobs, such as Kansasworks.com, where people can post resumes and search job openings. At the time of the hack, Kansas was managing data for 16 states but not all the states were affected.
After the hack, AJLA-TS officials called in a third-party IT company specializing in forensic analysis to verify the coding error the hackers exploited was fixed and to identify victims.
The call center for victims, which can be reached at 844-469-3939, will remain open through the end of July.