650K People May Be Impacted By WA Data Breach, Officals Say

OLYMPIA, WA — One week after confirming a database breach at the Washington State Department of Licensing, officials said Friday that 650,000 people may have had their personal information taken by thieves, which could include social security numbers, dates of birth and other sensitive details.

Officials do not believe the department's other major database, which stores information on driver's license holders, was accessed in the breach.

The DOL said it first detected "suspicious activity" on its Professional and Business Licensing System, also known as POLARIS, in late January and immediately shut down the system. The state began an investigation with Washington Technolgy Solutions and national cybersecurity firms to determine the scale of the beach. According to The Seattle Times, the database is maintained by Salesforce.

In an update shared Friday, DOL officials said early indications suggested hundreds of thousands of professionals with current or past licenses may have had their information exposed, which could include anyone with licenses that are active, expired, suspended, or revoked. The state issues licenses for more than three dozen professions, like architects, cosmetologists and real estate brokers.

The state said it would directly notify each person whose information could be at risk.

"We take your privacy and the security of your information very seriously," the department wrote Friday. "Immediately upon learning of suspicious activity in our Professional and Business Licensing System, we temporarily closed the system. We are starting the process of notifying those who may be impacted and are offering credit monitoring and identity theft protection to them."

As the investigation into the breach continues, officials said the database would remain offline indefinitely until experts can assure it is safe to reopen. Anyone with questions about the breach can contact the state's hotline at 855-568-2052, and updates on the investigation will be shared on the DOL website.