Joshua Vaughn reports:
One Midstate payroll company is working to address security issues after discovering hackers had breached its security and accessed client information.
In a written statement, Paytime Inc. of Upper Allen Township said it discovered a security breach on April 30. A subsequent investigation by third-party forensic IT experts found that the intruders — which the statement described as “skilled hackers working from foreign IP addresses” — first gained access to the company’s client service center on April 7.
[…]
Paytime’s statement said the breach was related to clients’ user names and passwords, but a letter obtained by abc27 to employees of a company that uses Paytime’s services stated that personal information like Social Security numbers, bank information, date of birth, wage information and home address were also accessed by the hackers.
Chris Haverstick, vice president of sales and marketing at Paytime, confirmed that hackers accessed this personal information.
Read more on The Sentinel.
Jan Murphy of PennLive also reports on the breach, noting that there is likely a large number of individuals affected. Although the firm has sent notification letters to its clients, notification letters to their employees will not go out until May 21. Those affected will be offered some free identity theft restoration services through AllClear ID if they become victims of ID theft.
Wondering if this direct quote from their website is indicative of their approach / attitude to security:
“Security is not a problem because Payentry uses a 128 bit SSL encryption and no additional software is needed.”
Because SSL has no history of vulnerability, amiright?
Scary, isn’t it?
I worked for a subsidiary of Hanover Foods (Spring Glen Fresh Foods in Ephrata, PA.) and just got a letter from Paytime stating all of my personal data including SS#, banking info, D.O.B., home address and wage info was compromised during this incident. Just checked with 2 friends who worked there at the same time and they got the same letter. According to them, I have to “wait until a problem arises” with my credit until I can do anything. Question is, won’t it be a little too late by then?
No, you don’t have to wait. You can immediately put a fraud alert on your credit report. If you notify one of the Big 3 that you were notified your identity info was involved in hack, they will notify the other two. A fraud alert is good for 90 days, and you’ll have to renew manually after that. A fraud alert can slow you down if you plan to apply for new loans or credit in the near future, but it’s still some protection.
@Dissent. I did exactly what you described, thanks for the heads-up. I guess as we all move our lives and info to electronic formats, these types of things will become more the norm rather than the exception. BTW, I live my life the Dave Ramsey way and try to use cash and shun credit, so getting slowed down on a loan or credit card application really isn’t something I worry about because I won’t do it. Thanks again.
You’re welcome. Hope you got your free credit report, which you’re entitled to. It can give you a good baseline to check in a few months to see if there are any changes.