Hawaii State Judiciary investigates data breach affecting 2,600 employees

The Hawaii State Judiciary is investigating a data breach that compromised the personal information of approximately 2,600 individuals, including 1,700 current and 900 former employees. The breach, detected on October 4, 2024, involved unauthorized access to an employee’s email containing sensitive payroll processing files.

The compromised data includes names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth. However, no bank account information was exposed, and the breach was contained within a day, limiting the impact to the accessed files alone. The Judiciary emphasized that no additional data was affected.

The individuals potentially impacted by the breach, comprising those employed by the Judiciary as of June 2021, were notified via letter. The Judiciary advised them to register for free fraud alerts with the three major credit bureaus as a precautionary measure.

The state’s IT security system swiftly detected the breach, and investigations are ongoing, with support from the Judiciary’s IT team and external security vendors. Employees have been urged to monitor their credit for any signs of fraudulent activity. Individuals are encouraged to contact the Judiciary via email at PAO@courts.hawaii.gov for further inquiries.