Florida state officials have just announced that thousands of Florida residents who currently possess firearm concealed carry permits may have just had their information compromised. Thousands of names of holders and hundreds of Social Security numbers were reportedly stolen by hackers.

The data breach was initiated through the online payment system that is currently being used by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS). The department’s servers were apparently hacked more than a week ago, but the department only made the information public earlier in the week.

According to the official statement, the data breach involved the names of 16,190 concealed weapon licensees and the Social Security numbers of at least 469 customers. The report also reveals that the hack was not a local one as they have traced the origin of the attack to be overseas. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is currently investigating the recent hack and are actively trying to identify the perpetrators.

The FDACS also assured customers in a recent statement that no financial and payment information were stolen in the breach. They also assured license holders that the information that was stolen poses “no risk of identity theft.” However, the department is offering all 469 customers, who had their Social Security number stolen, free credit protection for one year. The one-year coverage basically keeps track of the individual’s information and actively identifies possible misuse and detects potential identity theft.

The majority of the information that was obtained were for customers who registered prior to 2009 after the department began to only request FEINs instead of the client’s Social Security numbers.  The department’s Office of Inspector General assured customers that concealed weapon licensees, who only had their names accessed, have nothing to worry about.