Names, addresses, and social security numbers compromised after Virginia Retirement System contractor hacked

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Some Virginians may have had their personal information exposed as the result of a cyberattack.

Earlier this month, a company called Pension Benefit Information (PBI) began sending letters to some former state employees and their beneficiaries.

The letters explain that the company — which the Virginia Retirement System uses to help them accurately make benefit payments — learned in May that a “third party accessed one of [their] Moveit Transfer servers on May 29, 2023, and May 30, 2023.”

The letter from PBI confirms that data was downloaded. The company says that data includes names, partial addresses, social security numbers, and dates of birth.

Virginia Retirement System says the breach doesn’t affect active members, but rather retirees and beneficiaries. Data from 2022 shows that there are over 230,000 retirees and beneficiaries in the Virginia Retirement System.

PBI says they are offering affected people access to 12 months of complimentary credit monitoring and identity restoration solutions.

8News requested an interview with the Virginia Retirement System for this story and was told no one was available. However, a spokesperson said via email that, “Protecting customer information is of paramount importance to VRS.”