Northwest Christian Schools, Inc.

On February 11, 2017, Northwest Christian Schools, Inc. experienced a data breach reported by the Washington Office of the Attorney General on March 16, 2017. The incident involved unauthorized access to a system containing sensitive personal information of 526 individuals, primarily employees. The compromised data included names, Social Security numbers, banking details, and dates of birth highly valuable for identity theft and financial fraud. The breach exposed internal employee records, raising concerns over potential misuse of financial and personally identifiable information (PII). While the exact method of intrusion was not detailed, the exposure of Social Security numbers and banking data significantly elevates the risk of long-term harm, including fraudulent transactions, credit damage, and identity impersonation. The school’s failure to prevent the breach underscores vulnerabilities in its data protection measures, particularly in safeguarding employee records. No evidence suggested the attack extended to customers or disrupted operations, but the leak of employee financial and identification data qualifies as a severe internal data compromise with lasting repercussions for affected individuals.

Source: https://www.atg.wa.gov/data-breach-notifications | https://data.wa.gov/resource/sb4j-ca4h.json?id=9687

TPRM report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/norwest-christian-college

"id": "nor449082125",
"linkid": "norwest-christian-college",
"type": "Breach",
"date": "2/2017",
"severity": "60",
"impact": "3",
"explanation": "Attack with significant impact with internal employee data leaks"

{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': 526,
                        'industry': 'Education',
                        'location': 'Washington, USA',
                        'name': 'Northwest Christian Schools, Inc.',
                        'type': 'Educational Institution'}],
 'data_breach': {'data_exfiltration': 'Yes (unauthorized access)',
                 'number_of_records_exposed': 526,
                 'personally_identifiable_information': ['names',
                                                         'Social Security '
                                                         'numbers',
                                                         'dates of birth'],
                 'sensitivity_of_data': 'High',
                 'type_of_data_compromised': ['Personally Identifiable '
                                              'Information (PII)',
                                              'Financial Data']},
 'date_detected': '2017-02-11',
 'date_publicly_disclosed': '2017-03-16',
 'description': 'The Washington Office of the Attorney General reported a data '
                'breach involving Northwest Christian Schools, Inc. on March '
                '16, 2017. The breach, which occurred on February 11, 2017, '
                'involved unauthorized access to personal information '
                'affecting 526 individuals, including employee names, Social '
                'Security numbers, banking information, and dates of birth.',
 'impact': {'data_compromised': ['employee names',
                                 'Social Security numbers',
                                 'banking information',
                                 'dates of birth'],
            'identity_theft_risk': 'High (SSNs and banking info exposed)',
            'payment_information_risk': 'High (banking information exposed)'},
 'references': [{'date_accessed': '2017-03-16',
                 'source': 'Washington Office of the Attorney General'}],
 'regulatory_compliance': {'regulatory_notifications': 'Washington Office of '
                                                       'the Attorney General'},
 'response': {'communication_strategy': 'Public disclosure via Washington '
                                        'Office of the Attorney General'},
 'title': 'Data Breach at Northwest Christian Schools, Inc.',
 'type': 'Data Breach'}