AUSTIN, Texas – The personal information of more than 3 million hunters and anglers in Texas may have been exposed by a data breach, officials said.
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What we know:
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department reported Thursday that the state’s Cyber Command recently detected the breach that involved a vendor that handles the sale of hunting and fishing licenses.
Information such as driver’s license details, passport numbers, email addresses, phone numbers and addresses may have been obtained as part of the breach, according to TPWD.
Officials said Social Security numbers, birthdates and financial information were not exposed.
What they’re saying:
“We recognize the seriousness of this issue and have identified and implemented additional security options to better protect customer information,” TPWD officials said in a statement. “Many of our staff are hunters and anglers and were affected by this incident. We are committed to continuing to work with the license system vendor to implement increased safeguards to prevent future incidents.”
Officials said license sales will continue as scheduled.
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What you can do:
Anyone impacted by the breach is eligible for a free year of credit monitoring service through Kroll. To get information about the service, call 844-959-7123 between 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The deadline to apply for the free monitoring service is Sept. 14.
TPWD officials said anyone who notices suspicious activity on their accounts should contact their financial institution or the credit bureau reporting the activity.
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