A Nigerian has been charged in connection with a hack of Los Angeles County emails that might have exposed personal data from more than 750,000 people who had business with the county department, County official says.
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According to the Los Angeles County Chief Executive Office, Kelvin Onaghinor 37, faces nine counts, including unauthorized computer access and identity theft which if convicted, could face 13 years imprisonment.
Officials said the hack occurred in May 2016 when a phishing email deceived 108 county employees into providing their usernames and passwords.
According to the Daily News, forensics examination showed that about 756,000 individuals could have been affected in the h*ck through their contact with several departments. Data believed to be stolen in this h*ck includes first and last names, dates of birth, social security numbers, payment card information, drivers license or state identification number, bank account information, home addresses, phone numbers, medical information such as insurance carrier identification numbers or Medi-Cal, Diagnosis, treatment history or medical record numbers.
Authorities are in search of more suspects in connection to the hack but so far no arrest has been made and officials aren't sure if the suspect(s) are on U.S soil.
Deputy District Attorney Donn Hoffman of the office's Cyber Crime Division said that investigating such case required time because the h*cker's digital footprint would be tracked, and also the ISP (Internet Service Provider) too would hold essential information which can only be obtained only through search warrants.
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So far, the county is offering free identity monitoring for those who may have been exposed in the breach.