Letters mailed to 58,000 voters impacted by data breach at Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections Office
TAMPA, Fla. - About 58,000 registered voters will receive letters this week after an "unauthorized user" accessed files with the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Office.
Officials with the elections office said the unauthorized user appears to have illegally accessed and copied files containing personal identification information, such as social security or driver's license numbers.
The illegal data breach affected about 58,000 people. Officials said everyone impacted will receive a letter this week, making them aware that their information was illegally accessed.
Law enforcement officials at all levels have been investigating the criminal cyber activity case. They said that personal information came primarily from files used to conduct voter registration list maintenance.
The voter registration list maintenance is a state-mandated process the supervisor of elections office uses to continually review its voter roll to identify necessary updates, officials said.
The Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections Office did say the voter registration system and the ballot tabulation system were not accessed. According to officials, that system has additional layers of security.
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"The big concern is whoever has the information can then use it to either commit identity theft, open credit card information, or use that information to potentially reset passwords on online banking, so it’s a concern," said Tom Hyslip, a criminology professor at the University of South Florida.
Hyslip, who specializes in cybersecurity, said if you receive the letter in the mail there are a few things you can do.
"Wait about a month to two months and request from all three credit bureaus, you can go in and get your free credit report and make sure no accounts have been set up, that’s important and pay attention if you have any new credit cards in the mail," Hyslip said.
He also said you can report a fraud alert to credit bureaus using the letter you receive.
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"That just lets people know, when they run credit, if someone is applying for credit in their name, to take a second look because of the fraud alert," Hyslip said.
He said if you are really concerned, you can do a credit freeze, which prevents access to your accounts, including yourself.
"Just know that this is an everyday occurrence now, across the world, so thankfully, the chances of them being the one that the criminal uses is pretty low, but should still take those precautions to protect yourselves," Hyslip said.
The criminal investigation into the breach remains active.