By Will Wixey
SEATTLE – A new report from Washington Attorney General and Governor-elect Bob Ferguson found that 11.6 million data breach notices went out to Washingtonians over the past year, an all-time high.
The data was detailed in Ferguson’s ninth annual 2024 data breach report. It’s based on data breach notifications received from July 24, 2023, to July 23, 2024.
The previous all-time high for data breaches in Washington was in 2021, which saw five million fewer notices compared to this year. In 2022, there were 4.8 million data breach notices sent out.
This is also the first time ever that the number of individual notices sent exceeds the state’s population.
According to the report, 78% of all reported breaches were cyberattacks, with more than half of them being ransomware attacks. Randsomware is when hackers steal and block access to personal data until they receive payment.
AG Ferguson says the two mega breaches this year were Comcast and the Fred Hutch Cancer Center. Both breaches affected more than 1 million Washingtonians.
The report also found that just over two thirds of all breaches, 69.5%, caused a Washingtonian’s Social Security number to be compromised.
“The more people know about data breaches, the more they can protect themselves,” Ferguson said. “This report offers recommendations for responding to a growing problem and continues to be a resource for Washingtonians looking for ways to protect their personal information.”
A complete list of Washington data breach notifications can be found on the AG’s website. The full data breach report is also available to view online.
