http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/3355173.htm May. 28, 2002 SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - State senators said Tuesday they would investigate why it took weeks for 260,000 government employees to be notified that a hacker accessed a computer system containing their personal financial information. ``There's a lot of people screaming,'' said Dennis Alexander of the Professional Engineers in California Government. Democratic Sen. Steve Peace said his committee on privacy planned a hearing next month into how a hacker or hackers could break into the state database April 5, why it wasn't discovered until May 7, and why employees weren't notified until Friday. Authorities don't know what, if any, information was taken or used. The database included employees' last names, first and middle initials, Social Security numbers and payroll deduction information. The 7,000-member California Union of Safety Employees blamed Controller Kathleen Connell. Connell's office shut off the compromised computers and notified the Sacramento Valley Hi Tech Task Force the day the breach was discovered, said John Harrigan, chief deputy state controller for administration. The task force advised against notifying the public because it would hamper the criminal part of the investigation, Harrigan said. - ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org To unsubscribe email majordomoat_private with 'unsubscribe isn' in the BODY of the mail.
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