St. Joseph County Says External Fax Service Was Hacked as Handala Claims Data Theft
Summary
Handala claims it stole more than 2 TB of St. Joseph County data. County officials say only a third-party fax service was hacked; posted files’ authenticity is unverified, and investigations are ongoing.
Key points
- Handala claimed responsibility for an attack on St. Joseph County and alleged it took more than two terabytes of data.
- County Commissioner Carl Baxmeyer said only a third-party fax service was hacked and that internal county data was not compromised.
- The county received some documents by fax on March 31 and began investigating.
- Posted files appear to include death certificates, prescription information, and legal documents, but their authenticity has not been verified.
- The county is working with federal, state, and local law enforcement; residents concerned about their information can contact the Board of Commissioners.
Article Details
- Victim Organization
- St. Joseph County
- Incident Type
- Cyberattack involving a third-party faxing service used by the county. County officials said the county's internal systems were not compromised.
- Incident Date
- 2026-04-01
- Disclosure Date
- 2026-04-02
- Data Types Exposed
- The group claimed it exfiltrated sensitive information; this claim is disputed by county officials.
- Posted files appeared to include death certificates, prescription information, and legal documents; their authenticity was not verified.
- Affected Records
- Unknown; no record count was reported.
- Affected Data Size
- Handala claimed it exfiltrated more than two terabytes of data; this was not verified.
- Operational Impact
- County officials said a third-party faxing service was hacked and that county internal systems were not compromised. The county began investigating after receiving some leaked documents via fax on 2026-03-31 and said the investigation was ongoing with federal, state, and local law enforcement.
- Ransom Or Extortion
- No ransom demand or extortion activity was reported. Handala claimed responsibility and alleged data theft.
- Claim Status
- confirmed
People
Carl BaxmeyerSt. Joseph County Commissioner who disputed Handala's claims, saying only third-party faxing services were hacked and county internal information was not leaked.Richard WarfieldSt. Joseph County chief information officer who said the county was still reviewing posted files and that the county began investigating after receiving documents via fax on March 31.