Washington Department of Licensing hit by data breach
(The Center Square) – Personal details of professional license holders may have been exposed after a data breach within the Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL).
A statement from the department says it is unsure at this time exactly what information was accessed or how many people could be impacted. The website SiliconANGLE Media estimates as many as 250,000 could be affected.
The DOL said it became aware of suspicious activity within its Professional Online Licensing and Regulatory Information System (POLARIS) during the week of Jan. 24. The department immediately shut down the system and began an investigation along with the Washington State Office of Cybersecurity.
“At this time, we have no indication that any other DOL data was affected, such as driver and vehicle licensing information,” the statement said. “All other DOL systems are operating normally.”
The POLARIS stores information about license holders and applicants and that information differs depending on the type of license. It may or may not include Social Security Numbers, dates of birth, driver license numbers and other personal identifiers.
The DOL is encouraging license holders to contact the Washington State Attorney General or the Federal Trade Commission for information on obtaining credit reports and how to protect against identity theft.
It also recommends people place a fraud alert or a security freeze on their credit file.
The DOL is also providing a call center for license holders who have questions about the incident. It can be reached at (855) 568-2052 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week.
Aside from driver and vehicle licenses, the DOL issues licenses for 39 different types of professions and occupations, including those such as cosmetologists, real estate agents, bail bondsmen, architects and driving school instructors.
POLARIS processes, issues and renews license applications and accepts complaints from the public against license holders. Licensees can also use the system to track the status of their application and any requirements they might need to fulfill.
For people who need to renew their license while POLARIS is down, the DOL has set up a website where they can fill out an “intent to renew” form. Once submitted, the department will not take action against expired licenses until the system is back up and running.
As of now, DOL is not sure when that will be.
“Our information technology experts are working with the Washington State Office of Cybersecurity to fully understand the extent of the incident and take all other appropriate action,” according to its statement. “POLARIS will be brought back online as soon as possible.”
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