11/28/2012 - WASHINGTON (AFPS) -- The Defense Department and South Carolina officials are notifying military members and families who paid state income taxes there that they may have been victims of information/identity theft as a result of several recent cyber intrusions.
South Carolina's Department of Revenue reported nearly four million Social Security numbers and several hundred thousand credit and debit card numbers belonging to current and former taxpayers may have been stolen during cyber intrusions in August and September.
While the vast majority of the personal data is believed to have been protected by encryption, state revenue officials said about 16,000 accounts were not, and that anyone who filed a South Carolina income tax return as far back as 1998 could be affected.
The intrusions were discovered last month, officials said. While South Carolina officials believe their system is now secure, Gov. Nikki Haley said the state is offering one year of free credit monitoring and identity protection to anyone who might have been exposed and applies for it. "The number of records breached requires an unprecedented, large-scale response," she said.
In addition to Social Security numbers and credit card information, defense officials said information usually found on the front of checks may also have been exposed.
DOD personnel and their family members who are current or former South Carolina taxpayers, especially those who are living abroad, are urged to visit www.ProtectMyId.com/SCDOR or contact Experian's national consumer assistance center at 1-866-578-5422 by January 31, 2013, to enroll in identity threat protection.
In addition, current and former South Carolina business owners may also contact Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp., officials said. Visit www.DandB.com/SC to initiate the registration process or call 1-800-279-9881.
An investigation into the source of the cyber intrusion continues.
Comments
11/29/2012 6:08:20 PM ET What good is credit monitoring if your creditidentity is violated because of the governments failure at protecting your private information And why is the state making it the individual's responsibility to monitor and correct any problems The government should be doing all the work for their failure not the individual.
ZZ, LA
11/29/2012 2:02:46 PM ET @Sarge read the third paragraph. The SC Governor stated that the state would offer 1 year of free credit monitoring.
Fish, New Mexico
11/29/2012 12:15:57 PM ET My wife and I are retired in SC and have followed this story closely. The info in the article above concerning encryption is completely inaccurate. All of the news stations here are reporting that none of the social security numbers were encrypted and 16000 credit card numbers were not encrypted. The vast majority of the breached data was not encrypted.
Dan, Sumter SC
11/29/2012 10:16:06 AM ET Why isn't the state paying for credit monitoring for all those who were notified They were at fault not the taxpayers.
