DCF staffers' emails breached in phishing attack
NBC Connecticut Investigates has learned that an agency housing some of our state’s most sensitive information was the target of a cyber-attack in May.
A Connecticut Department of Children and Families spokesperson confirms the email accounts of two DCF staffers were compromised by an “external sophisticated phishing email.”
DCF handles thousands of cases with classified information surrounding child abuse and neglect cases.
The Department of Administrative Services (DAS), which oversees the state’s IT security services, identified the source of the attack and removed the malicious email from all DCF users’ inboxes.
DCF said all of the affected emails are being reviewed to determine how many contained personal information and/or confidential records.
The state is in the process of notifying anyone who may have been affected and will offer credit monitoring and identity theft protection to anyone whose Social Security number was compromised.
We have asked DAS for more information on its investigation, including if it believes the cyber-attack extended to other state agencies.
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