A cyber attack on the Utah Department of Technology Services gave hackers access to up to 500,000 people's personal data, including as many as 280,000 Social Security numbers. The hackers were able to access not only Medicaid cases, but also users of the Children's Health Insurance Plan. The remaining 220,000 claims accessed are said to have revealed details like names, dates of birth, and addresses. Those affected will have visited the doctor in the last four months, and had a Medicaid eligibility enquiry performed by their doctor.

Utah's state government is offering a year's free credit protection to anyone whose Social Security number was obtained in the breach, a similar move to that made by Sony when its PlayStation Network servers were compromised. The security flaw occurred due to a misconfigured server, which allowed the hacker to circumvent password protection. The DTS says that it has now addressed the flaw, and has put into place processes that will prevent a similar attack from succeeding in future. Those concerned will need to contact the Utah Department of Health directly — so be warned that if you receive a call regarding your data, it's likely a hoax.