Another state data breach acknowledged

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Another state agency might have released personal information of its employees in a data-security breach.

The Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services on Friday began notifying up to 4,900 current and former employees that their personal information may have been made public, the agency said.

"The DARS commissioner received notice just after 2 p.m. Thursday of a possible data breach and took immediate steps to secure the information and to notify the Health and Human Services Commission," the agency said in a news release. "The HHSC Office of Inspector General is now investigating the incident, which also has been reported to law enforcement."

In April, Comptroller Susan Combs, acknowledged that birthdate, driver's license numbers and Social Security numbers of as many as 3.5 million current and former state employees had been published on a publicly accessible website and remained in the public domain for as long as a year.

Combs office learned of the breach March 31 but did not inform the public or the Texas Attorney General's Office for about 10 days.

DARS said it sent an emails to current employees on Friday  notifying them of the incident, and the agency soon will begin calling former employees whose information may have been exposed. The agency said it is also encouraging employees to sign up for credit fraud alerts and is providing employees with time at work to do that.

Employees who worked for DARS, the former Texas Rehabilitation Commission, the Commission for the Blind or the Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing may have had their personal information exposed. HHSC is working to provide employees with access to free credit monitoring services, and DARS is setting up a hot line for current and former employees who have questions.

The agency said it is not releasing additional details about the incident at this time to avoid interfering with the law enforcement investigation or putting employees at further risk of identity theft.