By Bill Sizemore
The Virginian-Pilot
© June 4, 2009
State officials are notifying more than a half-million Virginians that their Social Security numbers may have been contained in a prescription drug database that was targeted by a computer hacker April 30.
The hacker gained access to the Prescription Monitoring Program computer system, which is designed to deter prescription drug abuse, and demanded a $10 million ransom. The hacker has not been identified.
A criminal investigation has not yet determined what, if any, personal information was put at risk in the incident, said Sandra Whitley Ryals, director of the Virginia Department of Health Professions, on Wednesday.
Nevertheless, the state is mailing individual notifications to 530,000 people whose prescription records may have contained Social Security numbers, in order to alert them to the potential for identity theft, Ryals said.
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