Bellevue School District No. 405

The Bellevue School District No. 405 in Washington State suffered a data breach between March 30, 2022, and April 25, 2022, where unauthorized actors gained access to sensitive personal information. The incident impacted 573 Washington residents, exposing critical data such as names, Social Security numbers, and medical records. The breach was formally reported to the Washington State Office of the Attorney General on October 10, 2022. The compromised data poses significant risks, including identity theft, financial fraud, and potential misuse of medical information, which could lead to long-term reputational and legal consequences for the affected individuals. Given the nature of the exposed data—particularly Social Security numbers and medical details—the breach falls under a high-severity category, as such information is highly valuable to cybercriminals and can be exploited for malicious purposes. The district’s delayed disclosure (over six months after the initial breach period) may further exacerbate trust issues among parents, students, and staff, raising concerns about the effectiveness of its cybersecurity measures and incident response protocols. The breach underscores the critical need for educational institutions to strengthen data protection frameworks, especially when handling sensitive personal and health-related information.

Source: https://www.atg.wa.gov/data-breach-notifications | https://data.wa.gov/resource/sb4j-ca4h.json?id=13925

TPRM report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/bellevue-school-district

"id": "bel039091825",
"linkid": "bellevue-school-district",
"type": "Breach",
"date": "3/2022",
"severity": "85",
"impact": "4",
"explanation": "Attack with significant impact with customers data leaks"

{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': 573,
                        'industry': 'Education (K-12)',
                        'location': 'Bellevue, Washington, USA',
                        'name': 'Bellevue School District No. 405',
                        'type': 'Educational Institution'}],
 'data_breach': {'data_exfiltration': 'Likely (unauthorized access confirmed)',
                 'number_of_records_exposed': 573,
                 'personally_identifiable_information': ['names',
                                                         'social security '
                                                         'numbers',
                                                         'medical information'],
                 'sensitivity_of_data': 'High',
                 'type_of_data_compromised': ['Personally Identifiable '
                                              'Information (PII)',
                                              'Protected Health Information '
                                              '(PHI)']},
 'date_publicly_disclosed': '2022-10-10',
 'description': 'The Washington State Office of the Attorney General reported '
                'that Bellevue School District No. 405 experienced a data '
                'breach involving unauthorized access between March 30, 2022, '
                'and April 25, 2022. The breach potentially affected 573 '
                'Washington residents, exposing personal information including '
                'names, social security numbers, and medical information.',
 'impact': {'data_compromised': ['names',
                                 'social security numbers',
                                 'medical information'],
            'identity_theft_risk': 'High (SSNs and medical data exposed)'},
 'references': [{'date_accessed': '2022-10-10',
                 'source': 'Washington State Office of the Attorney General'}],
 'regulatory_compliance': {'regulatory_notifications': 'Washington State '
                                                       'Office of the Attorney '
                                                       'General'},
 'response': {'communication_strategy': 'Public disclosure via Washington '
                                        'State Office of the Attorney General'},
 'title': 'Bellevue School District No. 405 Data Breach (2022)',
 'type': 'Data Breach'}