Millions of Texans will soon find out if they are affected by a big security breach at the State Comptroller's Office.
The office discovered personal information of approximately 3.5 million people posted on its online server. That information includes Social Security and driver's license numbers as well as birth dates and addresses among others.
Anyone with information shared with the Texas Workforce Commission, the Teacher Retirement System of Texas or the Employees Retirement System of Texas is at risk.
“I deeply regret the exposure of the personal information that occurred and am angry that it happened,” wrote Texas Comptroller Susan Combs in a press release. “I want to reassure people that the information was sealed off from any public access immediately after the mistake was discovered and was then moved to a secure location. We take information security very seriously and this type of exposure will not happen again.”
The office opened up a 24-hour hotline, but what many hear is a busy signal.
On Wednesday, the office posted information online at txsafeguard.org. The website lists resources for anyone who believes their information may have been compromised.
“This type of data compromise is more likely to lead to new accounts in someone's name so that's what we need to be looking for,” said Paula Pierce of the Texas Legal Services Center. “Check your credit reports regularly.”
According to the comptroller's website, the office immediately took down the personal records from its servers. However, experts say once information is posted online it is there for good, somewhere in the digital realm. Pierce suggests those at risk make regular checks of their credit history.
The Comptroller’s Office is currently investigating how its information went public. It must determine exactly where on the site the security breach occurred. The Texas Attorney General Office is also investigating. The agencies say there are no signs information has been misused.
The Comptroller's Office also has not found any other security lapses. It is currently working on some new software that will automatically encrypt future data.
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