MOVEit data breach hits 134,000 Bay Staters

Some 134,000 Massachusetts residents may have had their personal information stolen in a data breach involving a widely used file-transfer software, state officials and UMass Chan Medical School say.

Driving the news: Hackers targeted recent or current recipients of MassHealth, state cash benefits, Aging Services Access Points services and other resources, officials said in a news release.

• UMass Chan started notifying those affected Tuesday and says neither its nor the state's systems were compromised in the incident.

The big picture: Millions of Americans have had their health information stolen thanks to a security flaw in the MOVEit file-transfer software IBM used.

• The Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, which runs the state's Medicaid program, was also affected.

Zoom in: In Massachusetts, the breach exposed people's dates of birth, mailing addresses, Social Security numbers, medical details and financial account information.

Be smart: UMass Chan is offering free credit monitoring and identity theft protection services to those whose Social Security numbers or financial information was exposed.

Pro tip: The state and the hospital set up an information hotline for the breach, running 9am-5pm on weekdays at 855-862-7769.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to note when the hospital began notifying those affected by the breach.