What ports need to know about the data breach at the Office of the Washington State Auditor

In a press release and live press conference yesterday, State Auditor Pat McCarthy announced that a recent security incident at the third-party service they use to securely transfer sensitive information used in audits exposed the personal information of at least 1.4 million Washingtonians. This includes information from the Employment Security Department related to fraud investigations by SAO. Sensitive information from hundreds of local governments was also affected.

This information may affect anyone who filed for unemployment benefits in 2020, which could include furloughed port employees. Ports whose information was directly involved in the data breach have already been directly contacted by SAO staff.

The SAO has put together a webpage with more detail and information on how to take action to proactively protect yourself if you feel your data may have been compromised. Additionally, the webpage may be helpful to share with port staff who have concerns.

This is an actively evolving situation, and WPPA will provide more information to ports as it becomes available.