Data theft may expose jobless residents [telecom]

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Data theft may expose jobless residents Breach could affect up to 210,000 in Mass.; state gives notification

By Hiawatha Bray Globe Staff / May 18, 2011

The personal financial information of up to 210,000 unemployed Massachusetts residents may have been stolen in a data breach caused by a virus discovered in state labor department computers four weeks ago, officials said yesterday.

Names, addresses, and Social Security numbers, among other data, may have been taken, said John Glennon, chief information officer for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development.

The number of affected recipients is probably a small fraction of the total number of potential victims, according to Glennon. The virus attempted to transmit confidential information to digital thieves, he added, but it was not clear how much, or even whether, any data was successfully stolen.

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Virus causes data breach at state websites

Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development Reports a Virus Infiltrated the Computer Systems of Agencies tied to Employers, Unemployed Claimants and Career Center Customers