Google employees hit by data breach that may have exposed some of their social security numbers

Google office in California — Some Google employees from the California unit have had their social security numbers exposed Reuters

A data breach has been reported at Google's California unit which may have exposed employees' social security numbers. The company notified the employees about the breach saying that it occurred at a third party company that Google is in business with.

A document was allegedly sent from the third party firm to the benefits manager at another company, according to the breach disclosure. The document contained certain personal information of some Google employees which Alphabet says is restricted to social security numbers.

The company then sent a letter to select employees whose data may have been leaked in the process. The letter contents are stated below:

We take our obligation to safeguard personal information very seriously and are notifying you so you are aware that this happened and know that the following resources are available to you.

We regret that this incident occurred, and are working with the vendor to help ensure that this type of issue does not happen again.

● Order a Credit Report. You are entitled under US law to one free credit report annually from each of the three nationwide consumer reporting agencies. To order your free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call toll-free at 1-877-322-8228. It is always a good idea to be vigilant by reviewing your account statements and monitoring your free credit reports.

● Register for Identity Protection and Credit Monitoring Services. We have arranged to offer you identity protection and credit monitoring services for 24 months at no cost to you.

● Review the Attached Reference Guide. The attached Reference Guide provides additional details on resources available to you and recommendations by the US Federal Trade Commission on the protection of personal information.

The company said the manager has deleted the documents but they nevertheless do not want to take a chance. Alphabet-owned Google will be giving all of those staffers whose information has been exposed two years of free identity and credit monitoring service.

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