SC officials say agency website was defaced, not hacked; no personal information compromised

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina officials are investigating the defacement of a state agency website, but they stress that the site was not hacked.

WLTX-TV reports that an image appeared on the Department of Employment and Workforce website on Saturday evening claiming, "This site was hacked."

Agency spokeswoman Adrienne Fairwell told The Associated Press that officials believe it was a "website defacement," similar to graffiti on a wall. She said the image was taken down after a little more than an hour, and that personal identifying information was not lost or stolen.

Fairwell said similar incidents were reported at some other websites nationwide.

In mid-September, a computer hacker stole the tax filings of 3.8 million adults and 700,000 businesses as part of a massive security breach at the state Revenue Department.