The Wisconsin county is dealing with fallout after notifying victims of a 2023 breach.
Richland County, WI, recently notified 76,365 individuals about a data breach. The breach was filed with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on September 9th, 2024, citing its cause as hacking. All organizations that handle protected health information (PHI) must report breaches to the HHS if the incident impacts 500 or more individuals.
According to the county’s press release, it detected unauthorized access to its network on October 4th, 2023. Upon discovery, the county began working with a third-party cybersecurity company to investigate the nature and scope of the incident. “The investigation aimed to determine the extent of the activity and whether individual personal and protected health information, if any, may have been accessed or acquired by an unauthorized party,” one statement read.
The investigation concluded nearly a year later on August 1st, 2024, determining files with personal information may have been accessed by an unauthorized individual between September 28th, 2023, and October 26th, 2023.
Impacted files may have included names, addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers, email addresses, dates of death or birth, Social Security numbers, tax identification numbers, driver’s license or government identification numbers, passport numbers, financial account information, license plate numbers, medical information, health insurance information, prescription information, and more.
Richland County said they currently “have no evidence that any of your information has been used for identity theft or financial fraud as a result of this incident.”
Impacted individuals were notified via mail and the county also used the National Change of Address database to find addresses of individual’s who may moved.
In its statement, the county is encouraging anyone who had personal information on file with Richland County, including those who received a notification, to place fraud alerts on their credit files, review their credit reports, and be “vigilant in reviewing financial account statements and credit reports for fraudulent or irregular activity.”
According to local news reports, the data breach came as a big surprise, breeding confusion and some frustration. Many individuals called the Richland County Sheriff’s Office, with some believing the letter may have been a scam. One county resident said she received two letters addressed to her and a third addressed to her husband. Another resident expressed frustration, stating that the breach “should have been disclosed way before 11 months.”
County Administrator Candace Pesch said she could not discuss the details of the breach for security reasons, but that all individuals with a valid address had been contacted.
“Richland County understands the importance of safeguarding individual personal information,” said Pesch in a statement. “Richland County remains fully committed to maintaining the privacy of personal information in our possession, and upon learning of the event, Richland County took immediate action to protect individual personal and protected health information it maintains and devoted considerable time and effort to determine what information was potentially impacted as a result of this incident.”
For those in Richland County, this may be the second breach to impact residents in September alone. Earlier this month, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation (WPS) began notifying individuals whose protected health information may have been compromised.
According to their notice, the breach was part of the vulnerability in MOVEit software, a third-party application that is used to transfer files between WPS and CMS. The MOVEit breach was massive, impacting approximately 2,500 organizations and nearly 67 million individuals around the world, with the majority of victims residing in the United States.
The CMS/WPS breach was estimated to have impacted 946,801 individuals, exposing data including names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, mailing addresses, gender, hospital account numbers, dates of services, and some health insurance information. In response, the WPS is offering complimentary credit monitoring.
This event, alongside the breach of Richland County, highlights the vulnerability of government-run services. For Wisconsinites, breaches like these can have a cumulative effect; malicious actors may combine data from both breaches, creating a more complete profile of victims that can be used for identity theft and fraud.
Every data breach can result in financial loss, reputation damage, and operational delays, but breaches against the government can be particularly difficult to respond to. Often, governmental organizations hold a significant amount of personal data and, as in Richland County’s case, protected health information. Impacted individuals may not have even been aware that the county held this data.
Government data breaches can also result in organizations being unable to access critical data or perform municipal services. Fortunately, Richland County does not seem to have faced any operational consequences.
As a result of the breach, Richland County will likely face continued backlash from community members and potentially a class action lawsuit. Class action suits, which often allege that organizational negligence resulted in a data breach, are becoming increasingly common as a way for victims to gain restitution and encourage better safeguards.
In response, Richland County may implement additional safeguards and security protocols to prevent future breaches. This breach, alongside the one at CMS/WPS, will hopefully encourage government agencies in Wisconsin to prioritize data safety and security.
Recent data shows increasing breaches, often targeting healthcare data because of its high value on the dark web. Government organizations, non-profits, and general healthcare facilities may find themselves vulnerable to breaches and ransomware attacks. Despite the threat, a shortage of cybersecurity experts leaves institutions vulnerable and ill-prepared.
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