Texas exposes data and Comptroller offers free credit monitoring for 3.5 million people whose data was compromised. (Austin: how much, attorney)

[NHDave]

Just a heads up for you Texans.

State of Texas exposes data on 3.5 million people | Naked Security

[oceangaia]

Thanks for the heads up but either you are not really familiar with what happened or your thread title is misleading. The state incorrectly placed unencrypted data on a server that was publicly accessible. There is no indication the data was actually accessed.

It's sorta like if you left for vacation for a few weeks and left your front door unlocked. That would have been careless but doesn't mean you got robbed.

[Willsson]

I want to know the name of the top dog responsible and assurance from the state that the imbecile has been fired, without benefit.

The Comptroller's office discovered on the afternoon of March 31st, 2011 that they had inadvertently placed the private information of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) and the Employees Retirement System of Texas (ERS) on an internet accessible server.

The data was not encrypted, which is a breach of policy, as well and having bypassed several other policy rules within the state designed to protect people's PII.

[TT Dave]

Wow, that is scary! I have family members with personal information in some of those databases. Who knows if that data has been breached or not? Someone should be held accountable for this.

[L210]

Isn't this just great?!

[Bo]

Originally Posted by DiverTodd62

Thanks for the heads up but either you are not really familiar with what happened or your thread title is misleading. The state incorrectly placed unencrypted data on a server that was publicly accessible. There is no indication the data was actually accessed.

It's sorta like if you left for vacation for a few weeks and left your front door unlocked. That would have been careless but doesn't mean you got robbed.

I changed the verb in the thread title to "exposes." That is consistent with the OP's article and should do a better job of explaining the situation.

[Willsson]

Austin news, sports, weather, Longhorns, business | Statesman.com

Yesterday, Combs announced that the personal and confidential records of 3.5 million Texans had been parked on a publicly accessible server for about a year. The information comes from unemployment claimants and members of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas and the Employees Retirement System of Texas.

Everyone whose information was made vulnerable will be notified by letter. The mailing comes at a cost of $1.2 million DeSilva said. He didn’t immediately have the cost of the call center, which is being run by AT&T.

The toll-free call center number is 855-474-2065.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by Bo

I changed the verb in the thread title to "exposes." That is consistent with the OP's article and should do a better job of explaining the situation.

Good move, I was just going to suggest the OP correct it.

[CptnRn]

If you were one of the 3.5 million people affected, you can get free credit monitoring if you sign up before July 27th.

Comptroller apologizes for security lapse, offers free credit monitoring
The exposed data came from people who received unemployment checks, as well as retired and active teachers and state workers. That information, including names, Social Security numbers and addresses, was left unprotected on a publicly accessible server for about a year.

There is no indication that the information has been misused, according to the agency, but the Texas attorney general and the FBI are investigating.

Credit monitoring
Free credit monitoring is now available for people whose information was made vulnerable by the data security lapse at the Texas comptroller of public accounts office.


Enrollment for the service begins today at 7 a.m. and runs through July 27.


Each affected person must enroll online at http://www.txfreecredit.csidentity.com or by calling 877-219-1189.


More information is available at Texas Safeguard.

[loves2read]

I was one of those whose info was posted online--
I tried to enroll for the free monitoring just now--
my info was rejected--
when I tried to call the contact number it was busy--and busy--and busy--
3.5 million people trying to call are likely to keep it pretty busy


how much do you think the state is paying for that "free service"
the article says this will cost 500K and the state/comptroller has already spent like 2 million--with possible costs as high as 25 million--
they are also creating at least two new big jobs because of this debacle--some kind of Chief of Privacy

My info came from my work history as teacher in TX and I know that TRS keeps it safe--so I really and truly doubt that the info sent by them to the Comtroller's office was sent w/o security features--