Breach of Workforce West Virginia job seeker database reported

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) - An unauthorized individual accessed the Mid Atlantic Career Consortium Employment Services database, or “MACC” website, Workforce West Virginia announced Tuesday.

Workforce says it learned of the breach on April 13, 2021 and ‘immediately took steps to secure the network.’

Workforce West Virginia reports that files were not downloaded, extracted or manipulated.

A computer forensic firm hired to help determine what happened determined some personal information stored in the job seekers database was potentially accessible including name, address, phone number, date of birth, and Social Security number.

Notification letters have been sent to affected constituents with instructions for those individuals to take if needed and included contact information for the third-party forensic firm which can be reached at 1-855-537-2138, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

WorkForce Commissioner Scott Adkins will be present during Governor Justice’s virtual briefing on Thursday, June 24, to discuss the incident and answer questions

To help prevent something like this from happening again, WorkForce says it has implemented additional technical safeguards.

“Mitigating any potential risk for constituents continues to be our top priority,” said Scott Adkins, acting commissioner of WorkForce West Virginia. “Constituents should follow the guidance provided in the letter they received from WorkForce if they have any questions.”