Port of Seattle, the U.S. authorities company overseeing Seattle’s seaport and airport, is notifying roughly 90,000 people of a knowledge breach after their private info was stolen in an August 2024 ransomware assault.
The company disclosed the assault on August 24, saying the ensuing IT outage disrupted a number of providers and methods, together with reservation check-in methods, passenger show boards, the Port of Seattle web site, the flySEA app, and delayed flights at Seattle-Tacoma Worldwide Airport.
Three weeks after the preliminary disclosure, the Port confirmed that the Rhysida ransomware operation was behind the August 2024 breach.
After the incident, the Port additionally determined to not give in to the cybercriminals’ calls for to pay for a decryptor despite the fact that they threatened to publish stolen information on their darkish internet leak website.
“Now we have refused to pay the ransom demanded, and consequently, the actor could reply by posting information they declare to have stolen on their darkweb website,” the Port of Seattle stated on September 13, 2024.
“Our investigation of what information the actor took is ongoing, but it surely does seem that some Port information was obtained by the actor in mid-to-late August. Evaluation of the info taken is complicated and takes time.”
Knowledge breach impacts roughly 90,000 folks
On Thursday, April 3, 2025, the Port introduced that it is now sending roughly 90,000 notification letters to people impacted by the ensuing information breach who had a mailing handle. In response to the company, roughly 71,000 of these affected by this information breach are from Washington state.
The attackers stole worker, contractor, and parking information in varied mixtures, together with names, dates of start, Social Safety numbers (or final 4 digits of Social Safety quantity), driver’s license or different authorities identification card numbers, and a few medical info.
The Port additionally stated that it shops “little or no info” on airport or maritime passengers and that its fee processing methods have been unaffected by the assault.
“At no level did this incident have an effect on the flexibility to soundly journey to or from SEA Airport or use the Port’s maritime services,” the Port added this week. “The proprietary methods of main airline and cruise companions weren’t affected, nor have been the methods of federal companions just like the Federal Aviation Administration, Transportation Safety Administration, and U.S. Customs and Border Safety.”
Rhysida, the ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operation behind the Port of Seattle assault, surfaced in Could 2023 and rapidly gained notoriety after breaching the British Library, the Chilean Military (Ejército de Chile), the Metropolis of Columbus, Ohio, Sony subsidiary Insomniac Video games, and MarineMax (the world’s largest leisure boat and yacht retailer).
Its associates additionally breached Singing River Well being System, which warned virtually 900,000 folks that their private and well being info had been stolen in an August 2023 Rhysida ransomware assault.
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