16,000 Florida Concealed Carriers Info Released in Cyber Attack

News out of Tallahassee this time around, as the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services announced that 16,190 Floridians with concealed carry permits have had their names obtained in a cyber attack over the weekend.

Florida’s Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Adam Putnam says that the attack is believed to have come from an overseas group that hacked into the online concealed carry permit system, stealing user’s information.

As of the writing of this article, Putnam and the Florida state government have stated that the only information that has been recovered by these cyber criminals are the names of 16,190 concealed carriers and 469 social security numbers.

In an effort to help those who may have had their social security numbers revealed, the state has said they will give 1 year of credit protection, to help monitor any suspicious activity. It is not believed at this time that any other information, financial or otherwise, was violated during this cyber attack.

The Department also stated that the only people affected by this breach were those who renewed their concealed carry permit online, and that the rest of Florida’s gun owners have nothing to worry about. And, while they say that no financial info was stolen, the attack happened during the payment part of the renewal process.

Lastly, we are told that there is no threat of identity theft. Then again, they also told us that we could process a payment through their online concealed carry permit system, and look what happened there. Time will tell, at this point, if anything negative does come from this cyber attack.

Either way, they are looking into their cyber security system, because of this attack.

If you are worried about being a victim of this yourself, you can reach the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services at www.freshfromflorida.com/Contact-Us  and they should be able to help you out.

If you know some gun carriers who may have been potential victims and you would like to let them know about this, make sure to share this article as a way to let them know whether or not they should be looking into this matter.

Remember to stay safe out there, and what I want to know now, is do you feel safe renewing your permit online? Or, do you feel as though that’s something that should be done in person? Let us know, in the comments below.

9 Comments

  1. Doug on May 24, 2017 at 3:16 pm

    I have a FL non-resident permit. This is the first I’m hearing about online renewals, so maybe I’m safe. This headline though, called to mind the hysteria when FL first started talking about firearm carry permits. It was going to be the “wild west” and blood would be on the hands of legislators if not running in the streets! Haven’t seen any retractions by all those crybabies lately, have you?

  2. David on May 25, 2017 at 2:46 am

    Gee no worse than the TV stations releasing the info to everyone.

    • Joe on May 27, 2017 at 2:42 am

      When has a TV station released SS numbers?

  3. Ralph Lugo on May 26, 2017 at 8:24 pm

    I am worried because I have had a Florida ccp forover 15 years and never thought this could happen. I know that technology is ahead of its time , but i also thought that Florida would have programs in place to stop this from ever happening. My concern now is how one can protect themselves from their information being used anytime in the near future. And, yes I myself have been a victem of identity theft. You go through hell to prove your innocence before they decide to take the responsibility off your shoulders. Personally I don’t trust anything over the computer, especially such sensitive information. This should only be done in person or by mail.

  4. Alan Pereira on May 26, 2017 at 8:29 pm

    Renewals should be done in person

  5. William on May 26, 2017 at 8:35 pm

    I have a non resident permit but I did not renew. On line. I sent all of my info through the mail so maybe I’m safe. I definitely am not happy to hear about this. My permit is my business, Noone else’s and I do not want my SS number known by others.

  6. Dennis Pellegrini on May 27, 2017 at 10:36 am

    I have had my Florida concealed handgun license for almost 15 years. I live in Texas and never in my wildest technological dreams would I have ever thought that this could be an issue. I will, however, take advantage of the one year free credit protection.

  7. Wayne Clark on May 27, 2017 at 2:16 pm

    I have an idea…may be a little off the cuff & idealistic…but if Constitutional Carry was in place…AS IT SHOULD Be…there wouldn’t be any problems with hackers getting permission slip information to begin with. And I’m sure the SS#s were connected to the permits (choke) so that wouldn’t be a problem either.
    When some foreign country gets enough info on who is armed & potentially a threat to them (not naming names), it’s probable that we could be seeing people being murdered at an alarming rate. Will that convince our government to quit stepping on our 2A rights? Sadly, doubtful. Bastards!

  8. Willie on May 27, 2017 at 6:16 pm

    I’m really worried about this because it’s happened to me before with the U.S. Forest service. It’s a real wake up call when you get a letter stating the your ssn# has been hacked.

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