Hacker breach puts more than 500,000 Kansans potentially at risk

A security breach reported by the Kansasworks job system could affect more than 500,000 users, according to a spokeswoman for the state Department of Commerce.

Nicole Randall said Wednesday that as many as 580,000 Kansans could be affected by the breach, which was announced in March by a Topeka-based company called America’s Job Link Alliance.

The company is a vendor contracted to manage web-based services for workforce agencies in Kansas and at least 10 other states.

According to a news release and a disclaimer on the America’s Job Link website, a computer hacker was able to potentially gain access to some job-seeker accounts between Feb. 23 and March 14.

Information that may have been accessed by the hacking party includes names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers. Randall said that more than 1.6 million job-seeker accounts exist on the Kansas system, though less than a third of those accounts were potentially affected.

America’s Job Link posted a release about the breach to its website on March 22 after first noticing “unusual activity” on March 12. The company said it contacted law enforcement after learning of the breach and is working with the FBI to identify the hacking party.

Job-seeker accounts created before March 14 could be affected. A message on the Kansasworks website directs those who have questions to call an America’s Job Link hotline at 844-469-3939.

This story was originally published April 5, 2017 at 4:02 PM with the headline "Hacker breach puts more than 500,000 Kansans potentially at risk."