A security breach last month at Montana's Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) exposed 1.3 million people's private information and state officials react with free credit monitoring and fraud insurance.
Montana's public health department was a victim of a cyber attack last month that left millions of health records exposed. Hackers gained unauthorized access to a Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) computer server, which may have compromised the Social Security numbers along with other personal information of 1.3 million people. But the state officials said there is no evidence of the data being manipulated by the criminals.
The DPHHS officials ordered the server to be shut down on May 22, one week after suspicious activity was noticed and an independent forensic investigation began, according to a press release, Tuesday. The extent of the damage due to the hack is unclear.
The state officials are notifying the potential victims of the intrusion and also offering free credit monitoring along with identity and fraud insurance for one year. The data stored on the server, which includes Social Security numbers, birth dates, names, bank account numbers, medical reports, treatments and prescriptions, can be used for criminal activities.
"The state has taken several steps to further strengthen security, including safely restoring all systems affected, adding additional security software to better protect sensitive information on existing servers, and continually reviewing its security practices to ensure all appropriate measures are being taken to protect citizen information," the press release reads.
The officials assured that the data stored on the server was backed up, eliminating the possibility of loss of data. The hackers may have also gained access to the information related to contractors and former and current employees, their names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, bank account information and dates of service. Hence, the notification letters are being dispatched to all the individuals, the report said.
DPHHS has also set up a help line to answer customers' queries about the incident. Out of 170 calls, none reported any incident of identity theft or compromised bank accounts, DPHHS Director Richard Opper said. "The latest attack on Montana's server is the first successful attempt to infiltrate a state agency," Reuters reports. Opper further noted that there were 17,000 attempts to access the state computer system each hour or about 6 billion per year, which the company prevents.
