Puget Sound Educational Service District reports data breach
An alert was sent to current and former students and King and Pierce County employees after learning data breach within the PSESD network.
SEATTLEĀ –Ā The Washington state auditor’s office confirmedĀ one of their software vendors was breached, likely leading to accessed files by an unauthorized user.
In a statement, State Auditor Pat McCarthyĀ said the Office of the Washington State Auditor’s Office (SAO)Ā was made aware of the “security incident” involvingĀ a third-party provider of hosted software services, Accellion.
“Although the security incident occurred in December, the service provider only confirmed this week that some SAO files were likely to have been accessed by an unauthorized user. Other organizations using the service providerās software also were affected,” McCarthy said.
The SAO butĀ did not say what files or information could have been compromised as of Friday evening.Ā According to Accellion’s website, the software provider’sĀ “enterprise content firewall prevents data breaches and compliance violations from third-party cyber risk.”
The auditor’s office looks into finances at state agencies and local governments. McCarthy said the initial breach happened in December, Accellion confirmed this week of some SAO files likely breached. TheĀ company also notified other organizations affected using the service provider’s software.
“We are continuing to work with the vendor, state cybersecurity officials, and law enforcement to investigate this matter and identify the affected files. As we learn more about the impact of this incident, we will provide information as is permitted and appropriate during an ongoing investigation,”Ā McCarthy said.
Accellion released a statement regarding a “security incident”Ā in mid-December of its legacy File Transfer (FTA) software that specializes in large transfer files. The breach affected theĀ Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, according to local media.
