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Non-public data from about 2 million Texans who filed claims with the Texas Department of Insurance has been exposed and made public for about 3 years, according to a state audit released last week.
The branch said non-public data from 1. 8 million employees who filed claims, which added Social Security numbers, addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers and staff injury data, will be available online to members of the public from March 2019 through January. 2022. .
TDI officials said the branch was in the midst of a normal knowledge control audit when the branch discovered the unauthorized disclosure and reported it to auditors. the factor in January, the auditor’s office said.
The incident occurred due to a challenge in the programming code of the ministry’s internet application that manages workers’ payment data. The factor in the code allowed members of the public to access a portion of that online application, the branch said.
Texas Department of Insurance spokesman Ben Gonzalez said the branch temporarily disconnected the application from the network after identifying the unauthorized disclosure.
“We found that the challenge was due to programming code that allowed network access to a protected domain of the application,” Gonzalez said in a statement. “We solved the programming code challenge and brought the TDI net application back online. We have opened an investigation into the nature and scope of the challenge.
Gonzalez said the branch worked with a forensic company to determine whether leaked nonpublic data was misused. He discovered no evidence of embezzlement, he said.
Gonzalez said the other people whose knowledge exposed paintings for various employers who have painters’ pay insurance coverage. TDI sent letters to the other people it knew to inform them of the incident, he said.
He also said that TDI was already preparing to inform the public about the incident while the state audit was being conducted, and that “TDI’s responses to the knowledge event were not related to the state auditor’s report. “
The Texas Insurance Decomposer is a state-owned company that oversees the insurance industry in Texas and enforces state regulations. Employers who have a workers’ pay insurance policy can file claims with the state’s Division of Workers’ Compensation, which is a component of TDI, when they are injured or ill on the job.
The state’s insurance arm said it would provide 12 months of tracking loose credits and identity coverage to others whose knowledge was exposed.
This article was originally published in The Texas Tribune in https://www. texastribune. org/2022/05/16/texas-insurance-data-breach/.
The Texas Tribune is a nonpartisan newsroom backed by its members that informs and engages Texans about state policies and policies. Learn more about texastribune. org.
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