The Clark County, WA government this week confirmed it notified 76,253 people of an October 2023 data breach that compromised the following personal info:
- Names
- Social Security numbers
- Financial account info
- Payment card info
- Medical and health insurance info
- Government-issued ID numbers
- Dates of birth
The attack crippled Clark County’s website on October 21, 2023. The website was restored 10 days later.
In its notice to victims, the county acknowledged its systems were encrypted by malware, indicating that this was a ransomware attack. However, no ransomware groups have taken credit for the attack as of time of writing.
“On October 21, 2023, Clark County detected suspicious activity on our computer network and determined that some systems were encrypted by malware,” says the notice. “The investigation determined that an unknown actor gained access to our systems between October 16, 2023, and October 21, 2023, and accessed and/or stole data stored on certain Clark County systems.”
We do not know if Clark County paid a ransom, how much ransom was demanded, why it took more than 1.5 years to notify victims, or how attackers breached the county’s network. Comparitech contacted Clark County officials for comment and will update this article if they reply.
Clark County’s notice does not mention any offer of free credit monitoring or identity theft protection, which is the status quo following a breach of this severity.
Ransomware attacks on US government
Comparitech researchers logged 85 confirmed ransomware attacks on US government entities in 2023, compromising more than 1 million records. In 2024, those figures increased to 94 attacks and 2.5 million records. So far in 2025, we’ve recorded 27 attacks compromising 8,550 records.
The average ransom demand across all these attacks is $1.8 million.
Other recent such attacks include those on the city of Durant, OK and the OmniRide bus service in Virginia.
In 2025 to date, ransomware gangs have claimed responsibility for another 30 unconfirmed attacks that haven’t been acknowledged by the targeted organizations.
About Clark County, Washington
Clark County, WA is home to half a million people in the southernmost county of the state. It’s largest city and county seat is Vancouver. It’s the fifth-most populous county in Washington, just across the Columbia River from Portland.
