Washington state agency says data of hundreds of thousands of professionals may have been breached
The Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL) announced Friday that it had detected irregular activity on one of its online systems last month and that the personal data of professional licensees may have been breached.
Those licensees include more than 250,000 professionals, according to The Seattle Times.
The DOL said that it detected suspicious activity involving professional and occupational license information the week of January 24 and that it had shut down its Professional Online Licensing and Regulatory Information System (POLARIS).
The data in the system "may include Social Security numbers, birth dates, driver's license numbers and other personally identifying information" from license holders and applicants, the agency said.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/washington-state-agency-says-data-of-hundreds-of-thousands-of-professionals-may-have-been-breached/ar-AATvToU
WA Investigates Data Breach At Department Of Licensing
OLYMPIA, WA — The state Department of Licensing is investigating the breach of one of its internal databases, which may have exposed personal information on file for professional and business licenses.
In a notice posted Friday, state officials said they discovered "suspicious activity involving professional and occupational license data" stored on its POLARIS system during the last week of January. The department contacted the state's cybersecurity office immediately shut down the database while the investigation continued.
The system in question holds sensitive information, including social security numbers and dates of birth, for license holders and applicants working across 39 professions, including real estate brokers, cosmetologists, architects and others, the department said.
According to state officials, investigators have yet to determine how many people were impacted by the breach, or to what degree private information may have been accessed. The Department of Licensing said it did not appear the breach affected its other systems, including the DRIVES database, which stores personal information related to driver's licenses.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/wa-investigates-data-breach-at-department-of-licensing/ar-AATu7Px
