Iowa DHS reports ‘phishing’ email hack

DES MOINES - Officials with the Iowa Department of Human Services say the state agency's email system was hacked in August, possibly exposing health information of 820 Iowans.

DHS officials said Friday the agency does not have evidence to indicate the hackers actually accessed any emails, but Iowans potentially affected are being notified by mail.

The chance is small that anyone's personal information will be misused, DHS said.

But the state will provide up to a year of free credit monitoring through TransUnion Interactive to all those possibly exposed.

The department was hit by a phishing email in August that resulted in nine DHS employees providing their passwords, which gave the hackers access to their email accounts.

The hackers were able to mask their identities and send phishing emails to employees that appeared to have been sent from another DHS employee, according to the department.

The campaign was discovered the same day the phishing email was sent, and DHS employees changed their passwords to block access to their emails and to minimize the exposure of confidential information, the department said in a news release.

The hackers, however, potentially accessed protected health information for 820 individuals, the department said.