Taxpayers May Pay Up to $25,000 to Address County Data Breach
Taxpayers in Citrus County, Florida, may be paying the price for a data breach — and that price is $25,000.
According to the Citrus Country Chronicle, 1,300 county employees and their family members had sensitive personal data exposed following an error in a public records request response. The requested record was related to a personnel matter in connection to Growth Management Director Joanna Coutu; however, County Records Manager Mike Bridges mistakenly attached 74-pages of spreadsheets containing employees/families enrolled in the county’s health insurance plan. The attachment included individuals’ Social Security numbers.
The recipient of this information forwarded the information to two other people, and the county was informed of the error. The additional recipients were contacted by the Sherriff’s Office to ensure the information received was deleted.
Bridges admitted in a memo that he failed to adequately review the email attachments before sending. Subsequently, he lost his position at the county.
The county then contacted its cyber insurance. The cyber liability insurance covers legal services and identity protection. The county will be charged the deductible, which is approximately $25,000.
This data breach, rather than being caused by a malicious actor, was entirely caused by insider error. Incidents like these serve as a reminder of the importance of mitigating insider risks.
On Tuesday, county commissioners will decide whether or not to formally approve the agreements for said services, which County Administrator Steve Howard authorized immediately after learning of the data exposure.
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