The state of Maine provided a phone number, and when I called, I was on hold for 25 minutes to discover that my date of birth, Social Security number, and protected health information were stolen (“State: Russian gang’s hack in Maine affected personal data of 1.3 million people,” Nov. 9). A security vulnerability in our state’s systems is not conducive to trust in our government or the handling of our data. Financial compensation to all Maine residents who have had their data compromised — we do have a rainy-day fund of roughly $141 million, and it’s raining — seems slightly fair.
A credit monitoring code is a start, yet most Mainers are not going to accept that as the only reparation. Suffering with constant worry, Mainers are going to expect the state to seek damages from MOVEit, or Progress Software, its parent company, on behalf of the state of Maine’s residents. Or, perhaps, Maine ought to consider suing itself to right these wrongs.
Charles L. Perry III
Augusta
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