BATON ROUGE, La. — The Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Director Casey Tingle addressed the global cyber attack that resulted in a data breach of the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles.
Tingle estimates that about 6 million records were compromised, but some are duplicative because some people have both vehicle registrations and driver's licenses on file.
The OMV says all Louisianans with a state-issued driver's license, ID, or car registration have likely had their name, address, social security number, birth date, and driver's license number, plus more data exposed to the cyber attackers.
"To be clear, we believe that all Louisianians with a state-issued driver's license ID or car registration likely had data compromised. At this time, there is no indication that this data has been sold, used, shared or released. The State of Louisiana doesn't, our data does not appear to be the focus of this attack. However, everyone should take this seriously and implement the protective measures that we published yesterday," Tingle said.
Tingle was asked if the data breach affected any other agencies besides OMV. He said, "at this point, we have no reason to believe that data outside of what we've identified has been exposed. Certainly, the scale of the data in the OMV data is so large as to involve most Louisianians, so that's the scope of what we're dealing with."
During the press conference, Tingle also announced the state has opened a website to guide residents.
The state recommends that all Louisianians take the following steps:
Step 1. Prevent Unauthorized New Account Openings or Loans and Monitor Your Credit
- Individuals can freeze and unfreeze their credit for free, which stops others from opening new accounts and borrowing money in your name. Freezing your credit does not prevent the use of any existing credit cards or bank accounts. Freezing your credit may be done quickly online or by contacting the 3 major credit bureaus by phone:
- Experian - 1-888-397-3742 www.experian.com/freeze
- Equifax - 1-800-685-1111 www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit-freeze/
- Transunion - 1-888-909-8872 www.transunion.com/credit-freeze
Step 2. Change All Passwords Step 2. Change All Passwords
- As an additional precaution, consider changing all passwords for online accounts (examples: banking, social media, and healthcare portals) in the event your personal data was used to access these accounts. Utilize multi-factor authentication when able. Learn more about password protection at CISA.gov.
Step 3. Protect Your Tax Refund and Returns with the Internal Revenue Service
- To prevent someone else from filing returns or receiving your federal tax refund, request an Identity Protection Pin from the Internal Revenue Service or by calling the IRS at 1-800-829-1040.
Step 4. Check your Social Security Benefits
- All individuals who are eligible, applied for, and/or are receiving social security benefits (including disability), please consider registering for a ssa.gov account to stop others from stealing your benefits. If you suspect Social Security fraud, call the Office of Inspector General hotline at 1-800-269-0271, Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213 or file a complaint at OIG.SSA.GOV
Step 5. Report Suspected Identity Theft
- If you suspect any abnormal activity involving your data, including financial information, contact the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-FTC-HELP or visit www.ReportFraud.FTC.gov immediately.
- The State of Louisiana will be issuing additional information in the coming days. Additional tips on protecting your data and identity can be found at www.IdentityTheft.gov.
This remains an ongoing investigation, and the state says they will continue to update nextsteps.la.gov
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