Anyone who has filed a South Carolina tax return since 1998 should take the following steps:

1. Call 1-866-578-5422 where you will enroll in a consumer protection service. The call center is open 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM EST on Monday through Friday and 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM EST on Saturday and Sunday.

2. Then you will determine if you wish to have an online or US Mail alert mechanism.

3. For the online service, visit http://www.protectmyid.com/scdor. For the US Mail service, you will receive notifications via the US mail.

Experian’s ProtectMyID™ Alert is designed to detect, protect and resolve potential identity theft, and includes daily monitoring of all three credit bureaus. The alerts and daily monitoring services are provided for one year, and consumers will continue to have access to fraud resolution agents and services beyond the first year.

S.C. Department of Revenue Responds to Cyber Attack, Will Provide Credit Monitoring and Identity Theft Protection to Taxpayers
Hacker illegally obtained credit card and Social Security numbers

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina Department of Revenue today announced that approximately 3.6 million Social Security numbers and 387,000 credit and debit card numbers have been exposed in a cyber attack. Of the credit cards, the vast majority are protected by strong encryption deemed sufficient under the demanding credit card industry standards to protect the data and cardholders. Approximately 16,000 are unencrypted.

To protect taxpayers, the state will provide those affected with one year of credit monitoring and identity theft protection. Officials emphasized that no public funds were accessed or put at risk.

“On October 10, the S.C. Division of Information Technology informed the S.C. Department of Revenue of a potential cyber attack involving the personal information of taxpayers,” said DOR Director James Etter. “We worked with them throughout that day to determine what may have happened and what steps to take to address the situation. We also immediately began consultations with state and federal law enforcement agencies and briefed the governor’s office.”

Upon the recommendation of law enforcement officials, DOR contracted Mandiant, one of the world’s top information security companies, to assist in the investigation, help secure the system, install new equipment and software and institute tighter controls on access.

On October 16, investigators uncovered two attempts to probe the system in early September, and later learned that a previous attempt was made in late August. In mid-September, two other intrusions occurred, and to the best of the department’s knowledge, the hacker obtained data for the first time. No other intrusions have been uncovered at this time. On October 20, the vulnerability in the system was closed and, to the best of the department’s knowledge, secured.

“The number of records breached requires an unprecedented, large-scale response by the Department of Revenue, the State of South Carolina and all our citizens,” said Gov. Nikki Haley. “We are taking immediate steps to protect the taxpayers of South Carolina, including providing one year of credit monitoring and identity protection to those affected.”

Anyone who has filed a South Carolina tax return since 1998 is urged to visit protectmyid.com/scdor or call 1- 866-578-5422 to determine if their information is affected. If so, the taxpayer can immediately enroll in one year of identity protection service provided by Experian.

Experian’s ProtectMyID™ Alert is designed to detect, protect and resolve potential identity theft, and includes daily monitoring of all three credit bureaus. The alerts and daily monitoring services are provided for one year, and consumers will continue to have access to fraud resolution agents and services beyond the first year.

In addition to the Experian service, state officials urged individuals to consider additional steps to protect their identity and financial information, including:
• Regularly review credit reports;
• Place fraud alerts with the three credit bureaus;
• Place a security freeze on financial and credit information with the three credit bureaus.

If credit card information is compromised, the best protection is to have the bank reissue the card. Anyone who has used a credit card in a transaction with the Department of Revenue should check bank accounts regularly to see if any unauthorized charges have occurred. If so, the cardholder should contact the credit card issuer immediately by calling the toll-free number located on the back of the card or on a monthly statement, tell them what you have seen, and ask them to cancel and reissue the card. Consumers should also change any credit card web account passwords immediately when unauthorized charges are detected.

“From the first moment we learned of this, our top priority has been to protect the taxpayers and the citizens of South Carolina, and every action we’ve taken has been consistent with that priority,” Etter said. “We have an obligation to protect the personal information entrusted to us, and we are redoubling our efforts to meet that obligation.”
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I support the constitutional amendment to place the Lt. Governor and Governor on the same ticket, however, here’s some pros and cons.
Pros:
– Having the Gov/Lt Gov. on one ticket would ensure that both candidates have the same principles/common interest/platform.
– The Gubernatorial candidate could choose a running mate that holds to the same principles as the candidate, instead of being required to work with someone that they may not have chosen.
– Single ticket election process would provide a more harmonious and cohesive executive policy, avoid a possible change of the executive agenda in “midstream,” and ensure continuity of that agenda in case the Governor is unable to complete the term.
– The federal process of electing the President and Vice President on a single ticket has worked well.
– History has proven that several Gov/Lt Gov. have had little interaction and some have highly disliked each other. This would lead to poor leadership of the state.
– Three times SC has elected a Governor and Lt. Governor from different parties; the last time being in 1998.
– If the proposed changes had been in place, Sen. Glenn McConnell would not have taken over as lieutenant governor and would still be the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman.
– There would be a clearer balance of power because the lieutenant governor would no longer have roles in both the executive and leadership branches.
– The office portfolio has traditionally expanded when a governor and lieutenant governor work as a team.

Cons:
– Having the Gov/Lt Gov. on one ticket could mean that we elect a team that does not reflect the views of the SC people therefore, less accountability.
– South Carolinians would have less say as to who they wanted as Lt Gov. and also as President of the Senate. We would no longer have immediate say as to who presides over the Senate body. We would have less control and there would be less transparency.
– The process of electing the Governor and Lieutenant Governor on a single ticket deprives the voter of the opportunity to “vote for the person” rather than a party label.
– A single ticket election process places too much power in the hands of the Governor through the selection process and continuity of agenda.
– This ammendment would leave the Lt. Gov. with not much responsibility and the senate with too much power.
– The process of electing the Governor and Lieutenant Governor on a single ticket deprives the voter of the opportunity to “vote for the person” rather than a party label.
– A single ticket election process places too much power in the hands of the Governor through the selection process and continuity of agenda.

Additional Considerations:
As in the case of the Federal election process for President and Vice President, a strong candidate for Lieutenant Governor can bolster the gubernatorial candidate’s chances at the polls and, reversely, a poor choice for Lieutenant Governor could jeopardize the whole ticket.

In South Carolina, as in many states, political party strength is defined by general geographic areas. A geographic choice for Lieutenant Governor may strengthen or weaken the gubernatorial candidate’s chances and/or impact the geographic political balance of the State.

Because the ammendment wouldn’t go into effect until 2018, Gov. Haley won’t be affected as our governor is limited to two terms.

IT’S HERE!
The 2012 edition of The Best and Worst of the General Assembly, our annual guide to the legislature’s accomplishments and misadventures, is here. In it, we highlight the year’s most important legislation and give each bill a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down.” We base our judgments on a single criterion – whether or not the bill advanced freedom – and we explain our reasons in plain English.
In this year’s electronic version, we’ve added an important new feature. For any bill that received a roll-call vote, we’ve included a link to the final vote tally, allowing you to find where your lawmaker came down on any roll-call vote.
Download the 2012 Best and Worst here. As always, there’s no charge, but if you’d like to help us keep monitoring what politicians do with your tax dollars, click here.

I’m happy to be 1 of 8 members of the SC Senate to receive a perfect score with the Palmetto Family Alliance’s Legislative Scorecard. click here to see the details.