Conservation Department employees’ health information leaked in data breach
Matthew Sanders
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Some employees’ personal health information was possibly taken as part of a data breach of the Missouri Department of Conservation’s systems in February, the agency said Friday.
MDC initially alerted employees and the public about the breach in February. At the time, officials thought no personal information was part of the breach, according to a news release sent Friday.
But a further analysis in April showed some of the stolen files contained personal health information, the agency said Friday. The information was likely related to the department’s employee health plans.
The breach affects current and former members of the health plan, and the department can’t be sure what pieces of data were taken for each individual. However, the data could include contact information, health plan enrollment information and other sensitive material such as Social Security numbers, the release says.
MDC says current and former health plan members should:
Monitor health care benefit statements, bank accounts, credit cards and other accounts for suspicious activity;
Contact their health provider or health plan if they find services they didn’t use on their health benefits statements;
Contact their financial company (banks, credit card companies) if they notice suspicious activity on accounts;
Contact law enforcement if they believe they’re victims of criminal fraud.
MDC says it will provide free credit monitoring to those affected.
Anyone who thinks their information could be part of the breach should contact 800-392-3111 or PrivacySupport@mdc.mo.gov.