Oregon Residents Should Assume That Their Personal Information Was Exposed

Residents of Oregon should presume that their information has been compromised. According to the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), this is the case days after it was revealed that ODOT was involved in a global breach affecting numerous organizations that use the MOVEit software.

ODOT suggests that residents monitor their credit and block their credit files. Approximately 3.5 million Oregonians with active ID cards were affected. ODOT does not know who was affected or what data was accessed, but hackers may have gained access to the names, addresses, license ID numbers, and last four digits of residents’ social security numbers.

Do you know that after nearly two years on the run, the Guatemalan ex-wife of an Oregon man has been captured and charged with his murder? In May, a Coos County grand jury accused Reina Gabriela Jackson, also known as Reina Gabriela Matute-Ruano, with second-degree murder and conspiracy to murder her ex-husband, Dr. Craig Jackson, in August 2021:

• Reina Gabriela Jackson Ex-wife of Murdered Oregon Doctor Charged Years After His Death

Mike Bruemmer, head of Experian Credit Bureau’s global data breach resolution, states hackers can “apply for loans, lines of credit, passport or other government ID, or benefits, apply for a job, or even in a worst case scenario commit a criminal offense by creating a synthetic identity with good information taken from this breach, putting another name on it, or changing some of the information – but being able to evade law enforcement.”

Bruemmer states that you must take precautions against identity theft as soon as feasible. In addition to the two measures recommended by ODOT, Bruemmer suggests changing passwords, avoiding public WiFi, and considering changing passwords on home routers. The compromised data did not include credit card, banking, or other financial information; however, ODOT still advises taking action.

Michelle Godfrey, the Public Information Officer for Oregon’s DMV, reports that the agency has not received any reports of identity theft or fraud, but if residents observe any suspicious activity –

“they should contact a credit reporting agency and get instructions for how to deal with that. If they identify it then as identity theft, or fraud, then that raises to the level of criminal activity and that should be reported to the police. If something then is reported to police and law enforcement is involved, then come to the DMV and we can help you with a new ID card, but not until that point would it be appropriate to come to the DMV to change your ID.”

Godfrey states that you can obtain a complimentary copy of your credit report at annualcreditreport.com. To prevent this from occurring in the future, Godfrey explains –

“We have applied security patches to correct the vulnerability in the MOVEit software so our system is as secure as it ever was. We are going to be evaluating that over the next couple of days, probably weeks, as to how we want to move forward.”

As per state policy, Godfrey stated that ODOT will not respond to ransom demands.