The department said the personal information of 1.8 million workers who filed compensation claims — including social security numbers, addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers and information about worker injuries — was available to the public online from March 2019 to January 2022.
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The ministry only publicly acknowledged the security problem when the State Audit Office conducted an audit in March. On March 24, the Department of Insurance issued a statement confirming that it became aware of the problem in January.
The breach occurred because of a problem in the programming code in the department’s web application that maintains workers’ compensation data, reports The Texas Tribune. The problem in the code allowed the public to access a protected portion of this online application, the department said.
The state’s insurance department said it would offer free credit monitoring and identity protection services to people whose data was breached for 12 months.
The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that educates and collaborates with Texans on public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
https://abc13.com/texas-data-breach-department-of-insurance-personal-information-leaked-texans-affected-by-security/11857232/ Insurance Department data breach exposed personal info of 1.8 million Texans, Audit says
