Montana Health Department Hacked

Hackers breached a server in the State of Montana's Department of Public Health and Human Services, prompting officials to notify 1.3 million people of the incident.

There is no evidence this information was used inappropriately -- or even accessed -- but the state is offering free credit monitoring and identity protection insurance to potentially affected individuals, said Richard Opper, DPHHS director. Montana also is alerting family members of deceased patients.

Officials discovered the breach after an independent forensic investigation determined a DPHHS server had been hacked. The department ordered the May 22 investigation from Kroll after DPHHS officials first noticed "suspicious activity" on May 15, Jon Ebelt, DPHHS public information officer, told InformationWeek.