200,000 Dallas County Residents Had Data Stolen in October Hack

Dallas County, Texas, has issued an update on its run-in with hackers, warning residents that their personal information may be at risk.

Threat actors breached Dallas County systems in October 2023, making off with “certain information maintained by the County,” according to the notice.

Personal data at risk

“While the information affected by this incident varies based on the individual and their association with the County, this incident primarily involved the following information: name; Social Security number (SSN); date of birth; driver’s license/state identification number; and taxpayer identification number,” the memo reads.

In some instances, medical information (diagnosis or conditions information) and health insurance data may be involved.

The county encourages affected individuals to contact the dedicated call center at 1 (888) 330-2852 where representatives are available Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 9 PM ET.

Upon becoming aware of the incident, the county enlisted third-party cybersecurity experts and deployed new cyber-defense tools across its network, forcing password changes for all users to grant access to its systems, and blocking ingress and egress traffic to IP addresses identified as malicious.

According to a data breach filing with the Office of the Maine Attorney General, some 200,000 individuals are affected. Those impacted are now receiving individual notifications about the incident, what data was compromised on their end, and the steps to take to mitigate the risk of fraud.

Watch out for scams

Threat actors often use such data to build convincing phishing lures and bait those whose information got caught up in the breach.

According to the Bitdefender 2024 Consumer Cybersecurity Assessment Report, few people consider themselves an actual target for cybercriminals. Yet scams run rampant worldwide while consumers still engage in complacent cybersecurity practices, making it imperative to employ dedicated security on our personal devices.

Scamio combats cyberscams leveraging personal information stolen in data breaches. If you're suspicious about a certain phone call, email, or SMS, simply describe the situation to our clever chatbot and let it guide you to safety. You can share with Scamio the exact thing you want to check: a screenshot, PDF, QR code, or link. Scamio lets you know in seconds if it’s a sham. Use it anywhere via web browser, Facebook Messenger, or WhatsApp. Share Scamio with your friends and family abroad in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Romania, Australia, and the UK.

Anyone affected by a data breach should consider a data monitoring service. Bitdefender Digital Identity Protection lets you find out if your data has leaked online, what type of information was compromised, what risks you face, and whether your information is up for sale on the dark web.