The Federal Emergency Management Agency may have put the personally name selective information of millions of disaster survivor at risk of fraud and identity theft , according to a late paper from the Department of Homeland Security ’s Office of Inspector General .
The March 15reportsaid that during an audited account of FEMA ’s Transitional Sheltering Assistance program , it found that the delegacy shared and subsequently exposed the personal data of 2.3 million survivors of a telephone number of raw disasters that include the 2017 California wildfires as well as hurricanes Harvey , Irma , and Maria .
survivor of these incident provided their private entropy to FEMA in social club to obtain help such as irregular living accommodations . The audited account found that FEMA venture private information that the bureau pile up about applicants when it “ unnecessarily ” released some of that information to an undisclosed contractor handling its TSA program .
FEMA , the composition stated , shared with the declarer “ more than 20 unneeded datum field for survivors participating in the TSA program , ” including cant names , account numbers , and base name and address .
FEMA Press Secretary Lizzie Litzow told Gizmodo in a statement by email on Friday that since becoming aware of the issue , the agency has “ has taken strong-growing cadence to correct this wrongdoing , ” including by conducting its own audited account of the contractile organ ’s information system . Litzow also said FEMA is no longer sharing what the OIG key as unneeded information with the contractile organ .
“ To date , FEMA has found no indicators to suggest survivor datum has been compromised , ” Litzow say . “ FEMA has also worked with the declarer to move out the unneeded data from the system and updated its contract bridge to ensure deference with Department of Homeland Security ( DHS ) cybersecurity and entropy - share-out standards . As an tot meter , FEMA instructed constrict faculty to complete additional DHS seclusion training . ”
A DHS functionary who spoke with theWashington Poston the condition of anonymity suppose that it did not have information that any data had been compromised . He did , however , severalise the Post that the banking information of 1.8 million individual had been exposed in the falling out , with roughly three - quarter of a million address also exposed .
The agency said Friday its “ goal remain protect and strengthening the integrity , effectiveness , and security of our disaster programs that help masses before , during , and after disaster . ”
[ DHS , Washington Post ]
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