City of Brazoria

The City of Brazoria experienced a data breach in early 2023, discovered and reported on September 20, 2023. Unauthorized actors gained access to multiple City email accounts between February 20 and February 23, 2023, potentially exposing personal information, including full names of affected individuals. The exact number of impacted individuals remains undetermined, raising concerns about the scope of the exposure. While the breach did not involve financial data, ransomware, or systemic disruptions, the compromise of government email accounts poses risks of further phishing attacks, identity misuse, or reputational harm to both the municipality and the affected residents. The incident highlights vulnerabilities in local government cybersecurity measures, particularly in safeguarding sensitive communications and personally identifiable information (PII). No evidence suggests the breach extended beyond email access, but the lack of clarity on the exposed data’s nature or potential misuse leaves uncertainties about long-term consequences.

Source: https://www.maine.gov/agviewer/content/ag/985235c7-cb95-4be2-8792-a1252b4f8318/de0746d0-2f6c-46cc-bbc4-f98ecf47ce17.shtml

TPRM report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/brazoria-countytx

"id": "bra256091725",
"linkid": "brazoria-countytx",
"type": "Breach",
"date": "2/2023",
"severity": "60",
"impact": "3",
"explanation": "Attack with significant impact with internal employee data leaks"

{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': 'Unknown',
                        'industry': 'Public Administration',
                        'location': 'Brazoria, Texas, USA',
                        'name': 'City of Brazoria',
                        'type': 'Government (Local)'}],
 'data_breach': {'number_of_records_exposed': 'Unknown',
                 'personally_identifiable_information': True,
                 'sensitivity_of_data': 'Moderate',
                 'type_of_data_compromised': ['Personal Information (e.g., '
                                              'full names)']},
 'date_detected': '2023-09-20',
 'date_publicly_disclosed': '2023-09-20',
 'description': 'The City of Brazoria reported a data breach on September 20, '
                '2023, involving unauthorized access to multiple City email '
                'accounts. The breach occurred between February 20, 2023, and '
                'February 23, 2023, potentially exposing personal information, '
                'including full names, of affected individuals. The number of '
                'individuals affected is currently unknown.',
 'impact': {'data_compromised': ['Personal Information (e.g., full names)'],
            'identity_theft_risk': 'Potential',
            'systems_affected': ['City email accounts']},
 'investigation_status': 'Ongoing (number of affected individuals unknown)',
 'title': 'City of Brazoria Data Breach',
 'type': 'Data Breach'}