Port of Seattle notifies 90,000 people about data breach

The Port of Seattle has informed approximately 90,000 individuals about a data breach that happened last year.

In August 2024, the Port of Seattle, a government agency responsible for overseeing Seattle’s seaport and airport, announced that it had been struck by a ransomware attack. This caused outages with several services and IT systems, including check-in kiosks, ticketing, passenger display boards, the flySEA app, WiFi, reserved parking, and delayed flights.

A few weeks after the incident, the Port of Seattle shared more details. For starters, the Port implemented measures to block further unauthorized activities, including disconnecting some of its systems from the internet.

In addition, the agency revealed that ransomware operation Rhysida was responsible for the attack. However, the Port of Seattle denied paying any ransom demands.

“The Port has refused to pay the ransom demanded, and as a result, the actor may respond by posting data they claim to have stolen on their dark web site. Our investigation of what data the actor took is ongoing, but it does appear that some Port data was obtained by the actor in mid-to-late August. Assessment of the data taken is complex and takes time,” the agency said in a statement on September 13th.

Last week, the Port of Seattle announced what information was involved in the incident.

Research shows that the attackers might have taken the personal information of mostly current and former Port and other airport employees and contractors. This information included first and last names, dates of birth, the last four digits of victims’ Social Security numbers, driver’s licenses or other government identification card numbers, and medical information. Systems processing payments were not affected.

In another update, the Port acknowledges it is sending roughly 90,000 notification letters to individuals who have been impacted by the data breach. Approximately 71,000 of them live in Washington state.

“At no point did this incident affect the ability to safely travel to or from SEA Airport or use the Port’s maritime facilities. The proprietary systems of major airline and cruise partners were not affected, nor were the systems of federal partners like the Federal Aviation Administration, Transportation Security Administration, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection,” the Port added.