DISA employee screening program ‘cyber incident’ details

A major cyber incident at a U.S.-based employee screening program has exposed the personal information of millions of people, including hundreds of thousands in Massachusetts.

On April 22, 2024, DISA Global Solutions said in a notice on its website that "it was the victim of a cyber incident that impacted a limited portion of its network." Their investigation determined that an unauthorized third party accessed their network between Feb. 9, 2024, and April 22, 2024.

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According to the letter, filed with the Maine Attorney General’s Office, the company said the breach affected more than 3.3 million individuals.

According to a recent filing with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, more than 360,000 residents were affected by the breach.

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The stolen data included individuals’ social security numbers, financial account details and government-issued identification documents.

“People read about these breaches affecting hundreds of thousands, millions of people, and often it's overwhelming. And then they just shut down and say, ‘Well, there's nothing I can do about it anyway,’” said Ian Bednowitz, general manager at LifeLock. “The reality is that there is a lot that you can do to protect yourself from these breaches so that you can have peace of mind.”

DISA has started to send out notification letters to those individuals affected by the breach.

You've probably received at least one notification that your information has been compromised in a cyberattack. In Massachusetts, about 2 million people have had data compromised in 1,900 incidents disclosed to the state.

Bednowitz said consumers who believe they have been impacted need to take immediate steps to protect themselves.

“Most important thing is to freeze your credit,” explained Bednowitz. “That is the primary way that identity thieves will target their victims.”

Check bank and credit card statements for any strange activity. Consumers can also pull their free weekly credit reports from all three major credit bureaus and check for anything suspicious

“Delete accounts that you're no longer using,” said Bednowitz. “Having this information out there just makes you increasingly vulnerable to scams, identity theft, losing your home.”

A credit freeze for a child, called a Protected Consumer Freeze, is a free service to protect your child’s credit without impacting their future credit scores. Here’s what you need to know.

Consumers could also place a fraud alert on their credit file. This will tell creditors to contact you before opening a new account or changing an existing account.

DISA Global Solutions will offer individuals who are affected by this data breach access to credit monitoring and identity restoration services through Experian.