Columbia, SC (WLTX) -- Friday afternoon the U.S. Army National Guard announced their personnel have been affected by a new data breach.
This is unrelated to the Office of Personnel Management data breach currently affecting over 20 million government employees.
Current and former members of the Army National Guard could be affected, dating back to 2004.
The compromised Guardsmen personal information includes Social Security Numbers, Dates of Birth, and Home Addresses.
Spokesman for the Guard, Major Earl Brown, said "The National Guard Bureau takes the control of personal information very seriously," Brown said. "After investigating the circumstances of these actions, and the information that was transferred, the Guard has determined, out of an abundance of caution, to inform current and past Guard personnel that their Personally Identifiable Information (PII) was among the files that were transferred."
"The issue was identified and promptly reported, and we do not believe the data will be used unlawfully," Brown said. "This was not a hacking incident, in which the intent was to use data for financial gain. Nonetheless, the Guard believes that individuals potentially affected need to know about the breach and what actions they can take to protect themselves from potential identity theft."
The National Guard Bureau has set up a Web page at http://www.nationalguard.mil/Features/IdentityTheft.aspx and a toll-free call center available from 8AM to 4PM EST, Monday through Friday.
The number is 877-276-4729.
You can also email any questions you have by going to dod.data.breach.questions@mail.mil
The Web page provides steps on how to check credit reports, how to guard against identity theft and whom to call if Guard members believe any fraudulent activity has occurred with their personal information.
