Oregon Employment Department Closes Security Hole, Begins Investigation

By Brian Prince on October 13, 2014
 
The Oregon Employment Department (OED) is working with law enforcement to investigate an incident that caused the department to temporarily shut down a service used by job seekers.
 
According to the department, an anonymous tip alerted OED to a security vulnerability affecting the WorkSource Oregon Management Information System (WOMIS), an application used by customers to register for job search help and other services.
On Oct. 6, the department responded to the tip and began coordinating with the state's Chief Information Office to validate it. Once that was done, WOMIS was shut down while the security vulnerability was patched to eliminate the possibility of hackers stealing social security information.
 
The system was brought back online with additional security that afternoon, and the site is now up and running, according to the department.
 
"The second priority is to determine exactly whose information has been compromised and to initiate a criminal investigation," the department said in a statement. "We do not know if criminal activity has taken place. At the direction of Governor Kitzhaber, law enforcement has been contacted. OED will directly notify all customers who are WOMIS participants. OED has engaged with law enforcement to determine whether criminal activity has occurred. We will keep the public and media informed as new information becomes available
 
SecurityWeek/ Article/ http://www.securityweek.com/oregon-employment-department-closes-security-hole-begins-investigation