MalwareEducationEducationRansomwareCapture Stored DataData ExfiltratedData EncryptedSupply Chain (3P Vendor)Customer Data InvolvedIdentity (basic)PIIHighContained

Washington State University

bd_3d8a63ea57da4153 · schema v1 · pii pii-v1

Severity

High

Discovered

Jul 16, 2020

Filed

Aug 17, 2020

To disclose

5 weeks

Affected

334,219state residents only

Confidence

69%

Full breach record for Washington State University →4 incidents on file

Washington State University Foundation notified of ransomware attack on third-party vendor Blackbaud, Inc. Incident occurred Feb 7 - May 20, 2020; discovered July 16, 2020. Exposed names, DOBs, and relationship info for ~334,219 Washington residents. No financial data or SSNs involved. Vendor contained threat and engaged forensics/law enforcement.

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Washington clock⏱ WA AG >30d5 weeks discovery → filing

⚠ AG web formThe discovery date came from the AG web-form field, which is systematically later than the detection date stated in the letter. Treat the clock as indicative.

Incident timeline

undetected · 160 days

discovery → filing · 5 weeks / 32 days

Feb 7, 2020

Begins

Jul 16, 2020

Discovered

Aug 17, 2020

Filed

vs. sector median

2 wks faster

Tracked as a single-filing incident — the only disclosure on record for this event so far.Confirmed334,219 affectedView incident

Name: Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker LLP
norm: wilson elser moskowitz edelman dicker
Domain: wilsonelser.com

Name: Washington State University
norm: washington state university
Domain: wsu.edu
Industry: Educationllm

Discovered: Jul 16, 2020
Breach occurred: Feb 7, 2020 – May 20, 2020
Undetected for: 160 daysoccurrence → discovery
Materiality determined: —
Notification sent: Aug 20, 2020
Affected individuals: 334,219state-resident count only
Data types: Identity (basic)PII
Data elements: NameDate of birth
WA-stated cause: Cyberattack
WA-stated duration: lifecycle 100-199dexposure 100-199d
WA-stated discovery: Found after the fact
Attack vector: Ransomware
MITRE ATT&CK: T1486 Data Encrypted for ImpactT1041 Exfiltration Over C2 Channel
Threat actor: ExternalFinancial
Regulator citations: Notified Washington Attorney General Consumer Protection Division
Third party: via Blackbaud, Inc.
Initial access: exploit_public_facing

During the incident: Engaged independent forensics experts
Engaged law enforcement
Expelled cybercriminal from system
Implemented changes to protect personal data
Enhanced access management
Implemented network segmentation
Deployed additional endpoint and network-based platforms
Sent notification letters to affected individuals
Changes made: Accelerating efforts to further harden the environment
Enhancements to access management
Network segmentation
Deployment of additional endpoint and network-based platforms
Source: Quoted from the filing itself, not independently verified.

Time to disclose: 5 weeks(32 days from discovery to filing)
Compliance flags: WA AG >30d
Discovery-date grounding: AG web formThe discovery date came from the AG web-form field, which is systematically later than the detection date stated in the letter. Treat the clock as indicative.

Status: No extraction artifact recorded for this disclosure.

Evidence ladder

Leak-site claim

Attacker assertion only. Establishes: claim date, group, alleged victim.

Press / market report

Unlocks: incident narrative, operational impact. Still no compliance clock.

State AG / regulator filingThis record

Unlocks: discovery date, data types, affected count, compliance clock.

SEC 8-K / victim statement

Unlocks: materiality, stated response, full audit trail. Ceiling removed.

Source URL: https://agportal-s3bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/databreach/BreachM10248.pdf
DisclosureLens links to the originating regulator URL — full filing bodies are not redistributed from public surfaces (§4.5).
Filed at: Aug 17, 2020
Raw hash: b6e2e87f0ca226f029edcc0af553e3c4ef1a539a6c6f91e85ddd684b1cc62aa8

Reporting entityWilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker LLP

Victim entityWashington State University

Incidentdiscovered Jul 16, 2020

Stated responseEngaged independent forensics experts

ComplianceWA AG >30d

Extraction provenanceno artifact recorded

Source provenanceagportal-s3bucket.s3.amazonaws.com