Hackers breach 19K+ California welfare accounts

TLDR:

• More than 19,000 accounts on the California state welfare platform were accessed by hackers for almost a year.
• Hackers gained access to names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, phone numbers, EBT and Medi-Cal numbers, and more.

Hackers breached more than 19,000 online accounts on California’s state welfare platform, BenefitsCal, for close to a year. The breach was discovered on February 9, 2024, with hackers gaining access to sensitive information such as names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, phone numbers, EBT and Medi-Cal numbers. The breach notification letters did not offer identity protection services; instead, victims were advised to monitor their accounts and place fraud alerts on their credit files. The breach was attributed to reused passwords that were stolen from other websites, prompting BenefitsCal to implement two-step verification and other security changes to prevent future breaches.