A recent security breach of Montana state records compromised the social security numbers and personal records of some 1.3 million people.
State officials admitted the issue on Tuesday and reported that the entire damage of the hack was not yet known.
Records of individuals affected by the breach were offered free credit monitoring. The investigators haven't identified yet if the breach was performed for identity theft.
"We have absolutely no indication the criminals who illegally entered the server had any interest in the data they accessed in any way, shape or form, and we have no reports of people's identities being stolen," department Director Richard Opper told Reuters.
Aside from Social Security numbers, other information compromised included birth dates, patients' names, bank account numbers, treatments given, diagnosis, prescriptions and dates of service.
Opper explained that the hackers were able to access their records after breaking into a server connected to the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. The breach occurred in May, and the hackers were able to copy all information on former and current patients, contractors and health agency employees.
Since May 15, security upgrades were imposed after a monitoring company reported suspicious activity on the state's network. The officials shut down their servers, and further investigation revealed that there was indeed a security breach.
The hackers attempted to break into Montana's computer systems at least 17,000 times per hour. The state clarified that the incident was the first security breach that happened in the server.
In 2012, a group of hackers compromised the health state records in Utah. This breach affected 780,000 individuals and was believed to be performed by hackers based in Europe.
Aside from credit monitoring, the state also offered identity protection insurance. Montana insurance policies covered up to $2 million to help victims of data theft and hacking.
