Congressional employees exposed in transit benefit program breach

A breach in the Transportation Department’s (DOT) transit benefit program might have exposed data for congressional employees. 

A DOT spokesperson told The Hill in a statement that the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) is looking into the breach, and agencies like the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) are assisting. 

The spokesperson said a preliminary investigation determined it affected certain DOT administrative systems used for functions like the program TRANServe, and the breach did not affect any transportation safety systems. 

“With the support of other federal agencies, including CISA, the OCIO is addressing the breach and has suspended access to relevant systems while we further investigate the issue, and secure and restore the systems,” they said. 

TRANServe covers federal employees for commuting costs to incentivize them to use mass transit to reduce traffic congestion and help the environment. Employees can receive up to $280 per month to cover commuting costs. 

Reuters first reported the breach Friday, with sources briefed on the matter telling the outlet data for 237,000 current and former government employees had been exposed. 

FedScoop, a technology media outlet focused on the federal government, reported the information possibly compromised could include recipients’ names, agency, work email, work phone number, work address, home address, SmarTrip card number, and TRANServe card number.