A hacker accessed all of the personal information contained on W2 tax forms of employees of Boise-based Amalgamated Sugar, the company said.
The hack yielded tax forms for 2,858 employees, including seasonal workers and employees who retired in 2016.
The company said it employs between 1,200 and 1,500 full-time workers, including 574 at its plant and offices in Nampa, and it hires hundreds of seasonal workers each fall. It also employs people at plants in Twin Falls and Paul.
A hacker mimicked the email address used by CEO John McCreedy to send a phishing email to a corporate employee seeking copies of the tax forms, the company said in a news release. The hack yielded names, addresses, earned wages and Social Security numbers.
The company said it learned of the hack within hours, identified its source and worked with employees to control communications. Within 24 hours, it notified law enforcement, the Idaho Attorney General’s Office, the Idaho Tax Commission, the FBI and the IRS.
Amalgamated said it notified employees of the breach via email and workplace meetings. The company also bought subscriptions for employees to LifeLock, which monitors and flags suspicious transactions. No employees reported problems, but the company urged workers to monitor their accounts and place fraud alerts with credit-reporting agencies.
“We deeply regret this incident and want to extend our apologies and espress our concern to everyone affected,” McCreedy said.
So far, there is no evidence that any of the information has been used, the company said.
Source: www.idahostatesman.com