Massachusetts payroll system attacked via phishing campaign
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The Office of the Comptroller in Massachusetts is investigating a credential harvesting cyberattack that affected the state's Employee Self-Service Time and Attendance (SSTA) system.
The attack involved a phishing website designed to mimic the state's official portal, tricking some state employees into entering their usernames and passwords. This allowed attackers to gain unauthorized access to employees' accounts, specifically targeting direct deposit information.
After the breach was detected, the state temporarily disabled the official payroll system to secure employee information and alerted those potentially affected.
The state's payroll process remains operational, and payments to employees will continue as scheduled. As a precaution, recent changes to direct deposit details will be reverted to paper checks until the investigation is complete.
Investigators are still working to determine how employees were directed to the fraudulent site and how many individuals were affected. The comptroller’s office emphasized that there is no evidence of a compromise to the broader system, attributing the incident to user error—employees entering their credentials into the spoofed website.
