The United States Census Bureau was recently hacked but officials are assuring the public that no personal info was leaked. The hack apparently only affected one of the bureaus databases that contains only data such as names and phone numbers of organizations that submit information to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse.

The breach only affected the FAC which is tasked with collecting information from states, counties, and towns that receive federal financial assistance.

John H. Thompson, director of the Census Bureau, says: “The Federal Audit Clearinghouse is used to collect single audit reporting packages from state and local governments, non-profit organizations, and Indian tribes expending Federal awards. The federal awarding agencies use the single audit reports to ensure program compliance. We were in the process of making additional Clearinghouse information available via the Internet next year."

“Within 90 minutes of learning of the breach, we made the system inaccessible. It will remain offline until we can complete our thorough investigation and take steps to ensure the systems integrity in the future.”

“The IT security office is continuing its investigation, and they will further strengthen our security systems based on what they learn. I assure you that we will continue to safeguard the information and data of both the public and our employees,” Thompson said.

Source: ThreatPost