LANSING – Upwards of 1.87 million Social Security numbers, names and wage information for active employees in Michigan could have been accessed by unauthorized users after a software update done in October exposed these confidential records, state officials announced late Friday.

What this means is the vulnerability could impact two-fifths of the state’s workforce since some 4.36 million payroll jobs were reported in Michigan in December, state officials said.

The software glitch was discovered on Monday and fixed the same day, state officials added. Those people whose personal information may have been compromised are active employees whose payroll information is processed by 31 third-party payroll vendors. The state would not disclose the names of the vendors because of the ongoing State Police investigation.

“Data security is a top priority for the state of Michigan,” said David Behen, Director of the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget. “We will work with our third party vendors and our state team to review our processes and procedures to avoid incidents like this in the future.”

An investigation is ongoing by the Michigan State Police Cyber Command Center. If a compromise of data is confirmed, all will be notified immediately. The sensitive information potentially exposed includes first and last names, Social Security numbers and wage information. No other personal information, such as birthdates or home addresses, was involved. 

There is no indication that the potentially exposed information has been or will be used for malicious purposes, Behen said. It does not appear that anyone’s information was accessed with malicious intent, but rather was accidentally viewed by employers accessing the system. People whose information may have been exposed should continue to follow these tips to avoid becoming a victim:

  • Monitor financial account statements and immediately report any suspicious or unusual activity to financial institutions.
  • Request a free credit report at www.AnnualCreditReport.com or by calling 1-877-322-8228.  Consumers are entitled by law to one free credit report per year from each of the three major credit bureaus – Equifax®, Experian® and TransUnion® – for a total of three reports every year.  Contact information for the credit bureaus can be found on the Federal Trade Commission website, www.ftc.gov.
  • Take steps to monitor their personally identifiable information and report any suspected instances of identity theft to their local law enforcement.

DTMB and UIA are providing updated information on the UIA website Michigan.gov/uia. The agency is also creating a special telephone hotline at 855-707-8387 to answer questions about this issue with customer service representatives available from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., weekdays.