The state agency responsible for overseeing unemployment claims said Thursday that a recent data breach affected some applicants for reemployment assistance.
A statement from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity explains that residents who were impacted by a “data security incident” have been notified.
DEO spokeswoman Paige Landrum adds that the issue was addressed within an hour of staff becoming aware of the incident.
As of May 19th, 2020, @FLDEO has paid 979,887 claimants a total of over $2.68 billion. Read our press release here: https://t.co/JrC3SmA19R pic.twitter.com/oLyjh0BBF0
— Florida DEO (@FLDEO) May 20, 2020
She says the agency is making free identity protection services available to affected individuals “in an abundance of caution,” and advises them to immediately report any unauthorized activity on their financial accounts.
“At this time, we have not received any reports of malicious activity,” Landrum reiterates.
She did not specify how many people were affected by the breach.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported on Thursday that an estimated 223,927 initial claims were submitted in Florida during the week that ended May 16.