OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE FROM THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA: S.C. Department of Revenue Responds to

Like I have said before, the internet makes us all more vulnerable. It won't be long before the hacked victims number into the billions. It confirms my thoughts that some computers should not be accessible by any internet means. I placed this in the Global Meltdown forum because I believe this type of activity will be a major player in global meltdown. It makes the old cases of treason look like a walk in the park. Remember in March 2011 when the Pentagon had 24,000 files stolen in a cyberattack? We are becoming more and more vulnerable as the internet becomes the "goto" to get any and all information. There is no protection. I'm waiting for the day someone hacks LifeLock or Experian.

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE FROM THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA:
S.C. Department of Revenue Responds to Cyber Attack, Will Provide Credit Monitoring and Identity Theft Protection to Taxpayers
Hacker illegally obtained credit card and Social Security numbers

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina Department of Revenue today announced that approximately 3.6 million Social Security numbers and 387,000 credit and debit card numbers have been exposed in a cyber attack. Of the credit cards, the vast majority are protected by strong encryption deemed sufficient under the demanding credit card industry standards to protect the data and cardholders. Approximately 16,000 are unencrypted.
***Press kit attached with information regarding the chronology of the investigation and consumer safety solutions is attached.***

To protect taxpayers, the state will provide those affected with one year of credit monitoring and identity theft protection. Officials emphasized that no public funds were accessed or put at risk.

“On October 10, the S.C. Division of Information Technology informed the S.C. Department of Revenue of a potential cyber attack involving the personal information of taxpayers,” said DOR Director James Etter. “We worked with them throughout that day to determine what may have happened and what steps to take to address the situation. We also immediately began consultations with state and federal law enforcement agencies and briefed the governor’s office.”

Upon the recommendation of law enforcement officials, DOR contracted Mandiant, one of the world’s top information security companies, to assist in the investigation, help secure the system, install new equipment and software and institute tighter controls on access.

On October 16, investigators uncovered two attempts to probe the system in early September, and later learned that a previous attempt was made in late August. In mid-September, two other intrusions occurred, and to the best of the department’s knowledge, the hacker obtained data for the first time. No other intrusions have been uncovered at this time. On October 20, the vulnerability in the system was closed and, to the best of the department’s knowledge, secured.

“The number of records breached requires an unprecedented, large-scale response by the Department of Revenue, the State of South Carolina and all our citizens,” said Gov. Nikki Haley. “We are taking immediate steps to protect the taxpayers of South Carolina, including providing one year of credit monitoring and identity protection to those affected.”

Anyone who has filed a South Carolina tax return since 1998 is urged to visit protectmyid.com/scdor or call 1- 866-578-5422 to determine if their information is affected. If so, the taxpayer can immediately enroll in one year of identity protection service provided by Experian.

edit on 27-10-2012 by Gridrebel because: (no reason given)

As Cloud Computing becomes more popular, these types of attacks or breaches of security will happen less often.

reply to post by Gridrebel


The guy on tv for the lifelock commercials has been hacked.
second line

Thank you for posting this. I filed tax returns in SC from 2005-2011... Unfortunately that website does not lead me to anything useful, so I will have to call the number. The website in the article just goes to an Experian page asking for an activation code.

Originally posted by Socrato

Thank you for posting this. I filed tax returns in SC from 2005-2011... Unfortunately that website does not lead me to anything useful, so I will have to call the number. The website in the article just goes to an Experian page asking for an activation code.

I figured it might be a big plug for Experian. I could post more links for the article but they all say bascially the same thing. I am wondering why this is now coming out? I happened to be listening to FOX news and they were reporting on it. I think MSM wants to keep people in the dark, trusting, gullible and un-alert to the raging dangers round us. Just my opinion.

reply to post by OptimusSubprime


I've done a little investigating on the Cloud but I'm not sold yet. It could be a false sense of security. They claim that all the data it holds is so secure and safe, I have my doubts. Anything on the "net waves" is procurable. It's just a matter of time. I admit I am tempted, expecially since I have lost (as in died) 3 laptops in the last few years but I'm not ready to jump on the cloud yet.

Originally posted by Dimithae
reply to post by Gridrebel

 

The guy on tv for the lifelock commercials has been hacked.
second line

Ahhhhh, that's almost funny. I was unaware of that. Off to do some research!

reply to post by Gridrebel


Well that is contradictory to the way the NWO works isn't it? Wouldn't they prefer to have people afraid all the time?

I think they just took a long time to tell the public because SC is full of a BUNCH of flunkys. I worked in IT for 2 years at a County seat there, and I consistently saw many many security breaches and just plain lazy IT business. We used outdated equipment, broken appliances, a single firewall, no encryption at all etc etc. Our end-user computers got infected by viruses at a rate you would not believe (think 2 or 3 per day surfacing out of roughly 250 computers) and our penetration test (where you hire white hat hackers to test your security) failed miserably. You could walk into the courthouse with a laptop, plug an ethernet cord into a hole in the wall in the PUBLIC LOBBY and be into the INSIDE network!! I'm not saying SC sucks, because it doesn't. It's awesome. I love the state, I love the people (I met my wife there) and I'm considering moving back there... but this... this does not surprise me AT ALL.

Its not good, but no matter how good the protection, if a cyber criminal offers a bribe to an employee with access or at least behind some security, anything is possible.

3.6 million social security and nearly half a million credit card details, that would be worth some huge amount of money to bribe with.....

This is exactly why the cloud will never be better than what we have or any number of security levels, firewalls and so on.

Originally posted by Biigs
Its not good, but no matter how good the protection, if a cyber criminal offers a bribe to an employee with access or at least behind some security, anything is possible.

3.6 million social security and nearly half a million credit card details, that would be worth some huge amount of money to bribe with.....

This is exactly why the cloud will never be better than what we have or any number of security levels, firewalls and so on.

You're 100% right about that. Especially when you are dealing with someone who got fired or quit.

Originally posted by Gridrebel

Originally posted by Dimithae
reply to post by Gridrebel

 

The guy on tv for the lifelock commercials has been hacked.
second line

Ahhhhh, that's almost funny. I was unaware of that. Off to do some research!

Todd:Yes, more than a year ago my information was used to obtain a $500 loan when the loan provider failed to validate the identity. This was not a failure on the part of LifeLock or the fraud alert system because neither were ever given the chance to succeed. The real problem is that there are companies operating which are allowed to issue these loans without validating an identity.

Still, the LifeLock system did what it has always claimed it would in support of any member and completely fixed the problems. I was not out any money and my credit score was not negatively impacted.

To go one step further as proof that our system works, there have been at least 87 other attempts to use my information since I began providing my social security number two years ago, but none have been successful... NONE!

As for the drivers licenses, not true. It's just another example of individuals making accusations, but not being able to back them up.

source

Out of their 1million + members they have had 190 incidents involving their members, their services repaired damage and restored credit to 99.9% without having to fulfill the 1 million dollar guarantee.

I've been using them myself for several years, if my ssn# pops up anywhere I get a phone call instantly to verify. Better than nothing. I could freeze may credit and do the monitoring they do myself but it's a hassle, that's why I also pay somebody to mow my lawn.

Originally posted by Socrato
reply to post by Gridrebel

 

Well that is contradictory to the way the NWO works isn't it? Wouldn't they prefer to have people afraid all the time?

I think they just took a long time to tell the public because SC is full of a BUNCH of flunkys. I worked in IT for 2 years at a County seat there, and I consistently saw many many security breaches and just plain lazy IT business. We used outdated equipment, broken appliances, a single firewall, no encryption at all etc etc. Our end-user computers got infected by viruses at a rate you would not believe (think 2 or 3 per day surfacing out of roughly 250 computers) and our penetration test (where you hire white hat hackers to test your security) failed miserably. You could walk into the courthouse with a laptop, plug an ethernet cord into a hole in the wall in the PUBLIC LOBBY and be into the INSIDE network!! I'm not saying SC sucks, because it doesn't. It's awesome. I love the state, I love the people (I met my wife there) and I'm considering moving back there... but this... this does not surprise me AT ALL.

edit on 27-10-2012 by Socrato because: (no reason given)

edit on 27-10-2012 by Socrato because: (no reason given)

Yes and no. The NWO wants people it can easily manipulate and control. Whether the manipulation is fear, security, promises of this and that, money, whatever, it's the CONTROL they want. How they get there doesn't really matter to them.

I'm susrprised it took this long to hack then, based on your description of their lack of security. Maybe no one was interested in hacking until just recently???? And basically, they knew they failed miserably in the security dept but didn't do anything? Also makes me wonder about every other state.

Originally posted by Socrato

Originally posted by Biigs
Its not good, but no matter how good the protection, if a cyber criminal offers a bribe to an employee with access or at least behind some security, anything is possible.

3.6 million social security and nearly half a million credit card details, that would be worth some huge amount of money to bribe with.....

This is exactly why the cloud will never be better than what we have or any number of security levels, firewalls and so on.

You're 100% right about that. Especially when you are dealing with someone who got fired or quit.

Imagine the problem when CITI bank handed access to mortgage service companies which hired people so fast they passed passwords around... Then Citi gave them access to ALL mortgage records not just foreclosed homes ..... talk about stupid

The biggest 'identity thieves' out there are the credit bureaus. They compile massive amounts of personal information and sell it to anyone and everyone.

Just wondering will this be the excuse they use to install RFID chips? You know for our safety.

reply to post by FreebirdGirl


I don't think so but it could definitely help push that agenda. If we're not all crushed by meteors, hot lava, earthquakes or EMPs by 12/21/12, it will be interesting to see what the next 20 years brings......and how RFID chips are being compromised by some new hacking technology.