Sneaky state employees may have inadvertantly exposed info to hackers

State employees who tried to hide their computer tracks by using a "proxy site" might have exposed their personal information to hackers in Germany.

The Department of Financial Services found out late last week that, at least five times, employees contacting the state payroll system had gone through the proxies that throw up a dead end when supervisors try to find out where a computer user has been. The department said there have been no security breaches and no known cases of identity theft, but the department has ordered a statewide reset of passwords when employees access the payroll system.

It doesn't involve e-mail or other computer systems, just the payroll site where employees can view their W-4 forms and other payment data.