6 million Louisiana OMV records compromised in data breach, exposing most residents’ data

By Piper Hutchinson
Contributing Writer

(lailluminator.com) — A massive global data breach has compromised six million records at the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles, state officials said last Friday.

Casey Tingle, director of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, said the state does not believe any other state agencies have been compromised by the attack, although it is unclear how many other agencies use the software targeted.

The cyberattack involved MOVEIt, a popular third-party tool used to quickly transfer large files.

Tingle said there is currently no indication the attackers have used, shared or released the data obtained from the Office of Motor Vehicles in the attack. The hackers have not yet contacted state government.

Still, state officials believe all Louisianians with a state issued driver’s license, ID card or vehicle registration have had their sensitive personal information exposed, including name, Social Security number, address, birthdate and driver’s license number.

Some of the records released are duplicative, as many Louisianians have multiple forms of documentation on file. About 4.6 million people live in Louisiana.

Tingle advised that even if you no longer have a Louisiana ID or auto registration but have previously, act as though your data has been compromised, as the extent of the breach is unclear.

Lt. Melissa Matey, a spokesperson for the Louisiana State Police, said the agency is working with federal and local law enforcement to investigate the attack.

The state has implemented all of the patches put out by MoveIt to try to prevent further breaches, Tingle said. He added that the state is working with the FBI and the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, an agency within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, on additional measures to make sure the system is safe.

The state has recommended all Louisianians and anyone who believes they may have been impacted by the OMV breach to monitor their credit ratings, change all passwords, set up an identity protection PIN with the Internal Revenue Service to protect their tax refunds and returns, and report suspected identity theft.

More details on how to take these measures can be found on nextsteps.la.gov, which state officials say will be updated regularly with new information as it becomes available.

This article originally published in the June 19, 2023 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.