Members of the U.S. military - and their families - who paid taxes in South Carolina may have had their identities stolen by so-called cyber intruders.
The Pentagon is currently in the process of notifying service members who may have been affected by the cyber intrusion.
According to American Forces Press Service, hackers may have stolen the Social Security numbers of almost four million current and former taxpayers, both military and civilian. The cyber intrusions took place in August and September, and were discovered last month.
The South Carolina Department of Revenue reported several hundred thousand credit and debit card numbers belonging to taxpayers were also put at risk:
While the vast majority of the personal data is believed to have been protected by encryption, state revenue officials said about 16,000 accounts were not, and that anyone who filed a South Carolina income tax return as far back as 1998 could be affected.
Anyone who feels their information may have been stolen and wants to enroll in identity theft protection can visit www.ProtectMyId.com/SCDOR or contact Experian by phone at 1-866-578-5422. The deadline to enroll is January 31, 2013.
