Maryland admits to exposing personal information of hundreds

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WUSA9) -- Maryland's Department of Information Technology is admitting to exposing the "Personally Identifiable Information" of hundreds of people and companies that do business with the state by accidentally publishing a list of them on a public website.

Data exposed included Social Security and Tax ID numbers.

The mistake was discovered and removed from the web in September, according to a statement from Maryland Department of Information Technology spokesman Michael White. White was unable to say where the information had been published or for how long.

Less than 500 vendors are affected, according to White. A letter to vendors recommends they take precautions to avoid identity theft such as using credit monitoring.

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