Data breach exposes information of 237,000 US federal employees

A data breach exposed the personal information of 237,000 present and past US federal employees.

The data hack affected systems that process TRANServe transit benefits, which pay federal employees for some commuting costs. The US Transportation Department (USDOT) revealed it.

It is unknown whether any of the personal information was used for unlawful purposes.

114,000 present employees and 123,000 previous employees were affected by the hack.

In a communication to Congress, the USDOT stated that their preliminary examination of the data compromise “isolated the breach to certain systems at the department used for administrative functions, such as employee transit benefits processing.”

According to the USDOT, the intrusion had no impact on any transportation safety systems. It did not specify who might be to blame.

The department is investigating the compromise and has suspended access to the transit benefit system until it is secure and restored.