A data breach of the U.S. Department of Transportation led to the exposure of personal information for 237,000 current and former government employees, according to a recent report from Reuters.
According to Reuters, the U.S. Department of Transportation notified Congress on Friday, May 12, about the breach to a system that’s used for processing government employees’ commuting costs.
The breach reportedly did not affect any transportation safety systems.
The U.S. DOT did not reveal any suspects.
Cybersecurity concerns
A 2021 audit of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s web servers revealed that investigators were able to gain access to more than 13 million unauthorized records.
The audit by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General was used to illustrate the importance of protecting the nation’s transportation infrastructure during a U.S. House of Representatives hearing in December 2021.
“If breached, these systems could have cost the department millions of dollars in credit-monitoring fees to protect affected individuals from identity theft,” wrote Kevin Dorsey, assistant inspector general for information technology audits of the Department of Transportation. “We also identified recurring weaknesses that we could exploit, including poor security practices, such as weak administrative-level login credentials, unpatched servers and workstations, and a lack of encryption of sensitive data.”
The Office of Inspector General released the findings of the audit in October 2021, saying the cybersecurity data breach could have cost up to $570 million.
According to the 2021 report released, the Office of Inspector General offered 13 recommendations, and all 13 had been resolved.
“DOT’s cybersecurity program is critical to protect its vast network of IT systems from malicious attacks and other breaches that pose a threat to the U.S. transportation system,” Dorsey wrote. “In today’s rapidly evolving cybersecurity landscape, and as the nation embarks on a new journey to upgrade and improve its transportation infrastructure, DOT faces significant challenges in strengthening its systems while adapting to new and rising challenges and threats.” LL
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