After a breach in which the data belonging to 1.3 million people was compromised, Montana state officials have been trying to determine if the Department of Public Health and Human Services server was actually accessed during the intrusion and are taking measures to protect the identities.
The intrusion reportedly affected current citizens, past residents and even the estates of deceased residents. Notifications of the hack were sent to all individuals because data on the compromised server reportedly included names, birth dates, Social Security numbers and may have included information pertaining to DPHHS services requested or received.
While the DPHHS released news of the breach on June 24, the health organization stated it began recognizing suspicious activity on its server back on May 15 and called on a forensics team to conduct an independent investigation. The agency fears of an attack by hackers was confirmed on May 22, which lead to closing the organization's server.
DPHHS Director Richard Opper stated in a June 24 press release that his organization had no evidence that the compromised data was used any in way by the intruders.
"We have absolutely no indication the criminals who illegally entered the server had any interest in the data they accessed in any way, shape or form, and we have no reports of people's identities being stolen," Opper said.
The DPHHS has offered credit monitoring services and insurance to people affected by the breach, free of charge. Ron Baldwin, Montana's CIO, said the state has updated its policies on property insurance in 2013 to account for data security and cyber crimes, providing for up to $2 million in coverage for such incidents.
It's up to the affected parties to enjoy the free financial services, as privacy laws prevent the DPHHS from enrolling individuals into the programs.
The Montana DPHHS' divisions include Addictive & Mental Disorders; Business & Financial Services; Child & Family Services; Child Support Enforcement; Developmental Services; Disability Employment and Transitions; Health Resources; Human & Community Services; Public Health & Safety; Quality Assurance; Senior & Long Term Care; and Technology Services.
Montana officials say they have increased the security of its DPHHS server and has restored the system safely and security software was added to existing servers. State officials were reportedly an ongoing review of the state's security practices to ensure the protection of citizen information.
