Idaho National Laboratory experiences massive data breach; employee information leaked online
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IDAHO FALLS – Idaho National Laboratory experienced a massive data breach on Sunday night, leading to the leak of employee addresses, Social Security numbers, bank account information and much more.
INL media spokesperson Lori McNamara tells EastIdahoNews.com the breach is being investigated and federal law enforcement are involved.
“Earlier this morning, Idaho National Laboratory determined that it was the target of a cybersecurity data breach, affecting the servers supporting its Oracle HCM system, which supports its Human Resources applications. INL has taken immediate action to protect employee data,” says McNamara. “INL has been in touch with federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security’s Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency to investigate the extent of data impacted in this incident.”
According to INL, more information will be shared as the situation progresses.
EastIdahoNews.com was able to download and view the hacked information. We have been able to confirm the authenticity of the leaked information from several employees. The information impacts thousands of local workers.
A politically-motivated hacking group has claimed responsibility for the data breach on various social media platforms. EastIdahoNews.com is not naming the group, due to the nature of the sensitive information, which is now publicly available.
As of 11 a.m., INL officials could not the confirm the identity of the hackers.
On social media the hackers claimed to have accessed hundreds of thousands of “user, employee and citizen” data points from INL. The data included names, dates of birth, email addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, physical addresses and employment information.
When asked what INL is telling their employees to do about the leaked information, McNamara said they are still in the process of gathering information and will communicate more information to employees as soon as possible.
Idaho National Laboratory employs thousands of eastern Idahoans. It is managed by Battelle Energy Alliance for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy.
EastIdahoNews.com will update as soon as more information becomes available.
EDITOR’S NOTE: During the course of this investigation, EastIdahoNews.com downloaded and reviewed data related to the hack to confirm its authenticity. The data was viewed by only two members of our newsroom, and individual data was verified by several INL workers. The data was then destroyed.