Miscreants broke into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ computer systems and stole personal data belonging to “some” members, employees, contractors and friends, the church has confirmed.
According to a church statement on the “data incident,” posted on its website today, the security breach happened in late March 2022. The breached systems contained LDS church members’ basic contact info but did not include banking history or other financial information associated with donations, we’re told.
Depending on what personal information church members and others provided when they were hired or created an account, includes data such as usernames, membership record numbers, full names, gender, email addresses, birth dates, mailing addresses, phone numbers and preferred languages, according to the statement.
LDS have been working with US authorities and third-party cybersecurity firms since discovering the digital break-in to determine its scope, how it happened, and to mitigate any impacts, the church added. “Law enforcement authorities believe the risk that the information will be used to harm individuals is low and our monitoring efforts have not identified any attempts of harmful use.”
