The South Carolina Department of Revenue fell victim to a cyberattack that resulted in the theft of 3.6 million Social Security numbers and the details for 387,000 credit and debit cards, Gov. Nikki Haley announced this afternoon (Oct. 26).
Haley said that the attack, which occurred Oct. 10, originated from outside of the United States and that the announcement was only made now in order to give law enforcement time to conduct an investigation.
The investigation revealed that hackers attempted to breach the DOR's website several times between August and September.
"This is not a good day for South Carolina," Haley said. "I want this person slammed against the wall."
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Haley suggested that all who have filed a tax return in South Carolina since 1998 take steps to protect their identity and monitor their credit accounts. Those who have issues because of the incident will be assisted by the state, Haley said.
"This is the responsibility of the state to protect the taxpayers," she added.
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