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FAIRBANKS—More than 500 people may have had personal information stolen through a computer virus on two Alaska Office of Children’s Services computers, the Department of Health and Social Services reported Friday evening.
In a news release just before 6 p.m., the Department of Health and Social Services urged people who have interacted with the Office of Children’s Services to take precautions to protect themselves from identity theft.
The news release states that the two computers were infected July 5 and July 8 with a Trojan horse virus, "resulting in a potential HIPAA breach of more than 500 individuals."
"It is not yet known if the division’s confidential information was accessed, the news release states. "It is possible that OCS reports and documents containing family case files, personal information, medical diagnoses and observations, and other related information was accessed during this breach."
Preliminary investigations indicate the potentially compromised information originated in the western region of Alaska.
"Upon discovery of these events, the department took immediate action to mitigate further access to the infected computers, the news release states. "The DHSS Information Technology and Security team continues to work quickly to determine the scope of data potentially accessed, and will provide up-to-date information to Alaskans who may have been impacted by this event."
People who have had contact with the Office of Children’s Services are asked to call 888-484-9355 to see if their personal information may have been affected. The department will post updates at www.dhss.alaska.gov.
The Office of Children's Services encompasses several programs, including foster care, guardianship, adoptions and the infant learning.
The U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team, a part of the Department of Homeland Security, describes a Trojan horse virus as "a computer program that is hiding a virus or other potentially damaging program."
"A Trojan horse can be a program that purports to do one action when, in fact, it is performing a malicious action on your computer," according to the agency. "Trojan horses can be included in software that you download for free or as attachments in email messages."
Contact the newsroom at 459-7572.