By J.D. Prose
Beaver County Times, Pa.
BEAVER, Pa. — Pennsylvania Department of Corrections inmates and employees have been notified that their personal information could have been stolen when an online system vendor was hacked in April.
“Upon learning of this security incident, the Department of Corrections moved quickly to limit any potential harm to individuals and made contact with the authorities,” said DOC Secretary John Wetzel in a statement released Monday. “We have identified potential risks and notified individuals who may be affected, as well as provided help to ensure their credit is protected.”
Within the last week, letters were sent to more than 13,000 inmates, nearly 700 employees and 11 others whose information might have been stolen in the security breach affecting Accreditation, Audit & Risk Management Security (AARMS) LLC. Information is also available on the DOC’s website by clicking the link for “Data Security Incident Information” under “Top Programs.”
The Department of Corrections (DOC) said AARMS reported on April 9 that the incident occurred six days prior. AARMS is a vendor that provides the DOC with an online system “to conduct, manage and track audits and inspections related to its accreditation and internal operations,” according to the statement.
Susan McNaughton, a DOC spokeswoman, said information on the security breach was being released now because it took time for the department to “review the data that resided on the AARMS server, in order to identify the potentially affected individuals.” She said letters to those people possibly affected were sent out July 19.
AARMS told the DOC that a “portion” of its system’s data was taken, but the specific contents are not known although it could include names, driver’s license numbers, home addresses, Social Security numbers and medical information.
So far, there are no reports of anyone’s information being misused, but, as Wetzel mentioned, the DOC is offering free credit monitoring and protection to possible victims for one year.
In its statement, the DOC said it reclaimed its data from AARMS’s server after the incident and that the appropriate authorities, including the FBI, are involved in the case.
©2018 the Beaver County Times (Beaver, Pa.)