Almost 8,000 could be affected by federal emergency loan data breach

Enlarge / Small Business Administrator Jovita Carranza is flanked by Donald Trump and Secretary of Treasury Steve Mnuchin on April 2, 2020. (credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Almost 8,000 business owners who applied for a loan from the Small Business Administration may have had their personal information exposed to other applicants, the SBA admitted on Tuesday.

The breach relates to a long-standing SBA program called Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL). It has traditionally been used to aid owners whose businesses are disrupted by hurricanes, tornadoes, or other disasters. It was recently expanded by Congress in the $2.2 trillion CARES Act. In addition to loans, the law authorized grants of up to $10,000 that don't need to be paid back.

The EIDL program is separate from the larger Paycheck Protection Program that was also part of the CARES Act. The SBA says that PPP applicants were not affected by the breach.

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