US Transportation Department Data Breach Exposes Personal Information of Thousands of Federal Employees

The US Transportation Department (USDOT) experienced a data breach that exposed the personal information of more than 237,000 current and former federal government employees. The breach affected the systems used for processing transit benefits that reimburse government employees for commuting costs. It is unclear if any of the personal information has been used for criminal purposes.

USDOT, however, has notified Congress that its initial investigation of the data breach has “isolated the breach to certain systems at the department used for administrative functions, such as employee transit benefits processing.” The department has also stated that the breach did not affect any transportation safety systems. However, it did not disclose who might be responsible for the hack.

The maximum benefit allowance is $280 per month for federal employee mass transit commuting costs. The breach impacted 114,000 current employees and 123,000 former employees.

The department has frozen access to the transit benefit system until it has been secured and restored. It is also investigating the breach.

Previous Breaches of Federal Employees and Agencies

Federal employees and agencies have been targeted by hackers before. In 2014 and 2015, two breaches at the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) compromised sensitive data belonging to more than 22 million people, including 4.2 million current and federal employees along with fingerprint data of 5.6 million of those individuals.

Recently, suspected Russian hackers used SolarWinds and Microsoft software to burrow into US federal agencies and breached unclassified Justice Department networks. They also read emails at the Treasury, Commerce, and Homeland Security departments. In 2021, Reuters reported that nine federal agencies were breached.

In this latest data breach, USDOT is taking necessary steps to secure its systems and protect the personal information of its employees. While the cause of the breach is still unknown, it is a reminder of the importance of strong cybersecurity measures and constant vigilance in protecting sensitive information.