BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – The state government warns the public after the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV) becomes the victim of a major international cyber attack.
At a press conference held on Friday morning, Louisiana officials said anyone with a state ID, driver’s license, or car registration could be impacted by this attack. The Governor’s office said they became aware of the incident on Wednesday night and sent out an official statement on Thursday.
“Now, I have to really go dig deep and see if not just me, but just my family are safe,” said Cornell Thorn, Manager at Tire Choice.
Thorn is one of many people exposed in a recent cyber attack on MoveIt, which is a global third-party data transfer service used by the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles.
“It is at the center of this very sophisticated breach,” said Casey Tingle, Director of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security.
Nearly six million records in Louisiana that contain social security numbers, birth dates, addresses, and other sensitive information leave many people at risk for identity theft.
”At this time, there is no indication that this data has been sold, used, shared, or released,” said Tingle.
Security officials said the OMV is just one of many states and government agencies, businesses, and organizations across the world impacted.
“Our data does not appear to be the focus of this attack,” said Tingle. “We know that passwords were not included in the data that was involved in this breach.”
According to Thorn, he hasn’t received any notifications regarding this cyberattack. The mechanic said he’s concerned from both a personal and business standpoint.
“For most people, credit is the way to go. So that even deals with our business and the business that I’m in. So if their credit is messed up, some of their purchasing power may have been lost,” said Thorn.
Government officials encourage everyone to take protective measures.
This includes monitoring your credit report, requesting an identity protection pin from the IRS, checking your social security benefits, changing passwords every 90 days, and reporting any suspected fraud.
Tingle said they can’t prove that anyone who previously had a Louisiana license or registration will be impacted by this data breach. However, officials say it would be “wise” to take protective action.
Visit nextsteps.la.gov for more protection tips.
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