State tax data breach twice as large as originally thought

BOSTON – Officials with Massachusetts’ tax collection agency say a data breach that exposed private information from about 39,000 business taxpayers was twice as large as originally thought.

The Massachusetts Department of Revenue tells The Boston Globe the information was viewable to other companies, potentially even competitors.

The error lasted from early August through Jan. 23 and allowed some companies to view other business’s names, tax identification numbers, amount and date of tax payments, number of employees and banking information about their payroll processor.

The agency says just one Social Security number was exposed.

The Department of Revenue reported what happened with that number, triggering a review by the state attorney general.

The state says the agency fixed the issue in January within hours of being made aware of it.

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Information from: The Boston Globe, http://www.bostonglobe.com