Allegheny County PA the Latest MoveIT Data Breach Victims on the List
Table of Contents
- By Steven
- Published: Aug 08, 2023
- Last Updated: Aug 09, 2023
Allegheny County is the second largest county in Pennsylvania, behind Philadelphia County. It is located in Southwest Pennsylvania and has approximately 1.2 million residents. This large county was the recent victim of a data breach, which means many of the county residents could be at risk of being exposed. Learn the details about this potentially disastrous data loss and who should react to the attack to protect themselves from future issues.
How Did the Attack Occur?
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, suffered from a significant data breach because the state used the MOVEit file transfer solution to move documents around. The solution has a known security vulnerability that allowed attackers to access secure documents and files connected to the software tool between the end of May and the beginning of June of 2023. The attackers could easily open up the entire file database held by the software user and transfer the documents out for later use. This is what the C10P ransomware gang did to countless victims throughout the world. During that time huge pools of data were taken from a variety of established organizations, including Allegheny County, PA.
What Information Was Viewed or Stolen?
The total information lost varies from individual to individual. It's believed that a significant amount of personal data was lost for each person, and that could include Social Security numbers, government IDs, and other secure data that could be harmful if taken by an attacker and misused. We cannot say for sure what information was lost for a specific individual, but if you learn your data was involved in this breach, you should assume attackers could do major harm to your credit.
How Did Allegheny County Admit to the Breach?
An official from within the office for Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, filed a data breach notice with the Maine Attorney General's office on July 28, 2023. The document explains the breach likely occurred on June 1, 2023, and that many residents lost data because of a vulnerability in the MOVEit data transfer solution used by the county.
What Will Become of the Stolen Information?
There is no way to accurately say what will become of the stolen information taken in this data breach. We suspect the hackers will first attempt to collect a ransom from the county. If the ransom isn't collected the information will likely be spread online, used to attempt to launch identity theft attacks, and used for phishing attacks. All these different attacks on the individuals involved could lead to financial losses and credit damage if they aren't careful.
What Should Affected Parties Do in the Aftermath of the Breach?
If you get a notice from the county explaining your information was stolen in the breach, you should take immediate steps to protect yourself. Your data will likely be misused and you should check your credit while also considering investing in identity theft protection services. Take those two steps to guard yourself against potential attacks and keep your information from being misused for long.