The state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs' Office of Consumer Protection is advising Hawaii residents to take precautions if they believe they have been affected by either of two recent data breaches.

Required reports to the state indicate there may be more than 2,300 people affected in Hawaii.

"These incidents affect a significant number of people, including Hawaii residents," said Bruce Kim, OCP executive director.  "Hawaii residents who believe they may be at risk because of these incidents are urged to take immediate steps to protect their personal information.  It is critical for those affected to use the contact information provided by the agencies involved and get current information on what they can do to protect themselves."

The state recently received notification of two separate data breaches originating on the mainland that affect a number of Hawaii residents.

The first involves customers of Nationwide Insurance and Allied Insurance.  Nationwide reported that computer hackers accessed personal information stored by the two companies in early October.  This breach may have compromised records containing customers' Social Security numbers.  Current estimates are that more than 1.1 million people may be affected nationally.

The state believes that as many as 170 Hawaii residents may be affected by this breach.  On Nov. 16, the company began sending out notices to affected people.  Although Nationwide indicates that it is not aware of evidence of personal information being misused, the company is providing free credit report monitoring and identity theft protection services to affected people for one year.

Individuals who believe they may be affected or have questions can call the company's toll-free hot line at 1-800-760-1125.

The second incident involved the breach of tax returns and other data at the South Carolina Department of Revenue sometime in September 2012 and went undetected until October 2012.

South Carolina determined that only state tax returns filed electronically by businesses or individuals since 1998 were impacted.  It is believed that the Social Security information of 3.8 million taxpayers, information belonging to 699,900 businesses, 3.3 million bank accounts, and 5,000 credit cards were compromised in the attack. 

The law firm representing South Carolina recently informed the state that the personal information of approximately 2,136 Hawaii residents -- who either filed their returns electronically or whose information was included on another entity's electronic tax filing -- may have been compromised.

The U.S. Secret Service is directing an investigation into this incident.  South Carolina has taken steps to contain the breach and implement new technology and policy protections to prevent further exposure of taxpayers' personal information.