Pottawatomie County: Pott County reports employee data breach

Pottawatomie County Employees Hit by W2 Data Breach

On Tuesday, May 5, Pottawatomie County employees were notified of a data breach involving their W2 forms. The breach, disclosed around 6:15 p.m., exposed sensitive personal information, including names, addresses, full Social Security numbers, and wage details.

County Administrator Chad Kinsey confirmed that the incident did not compromise the county’s IT network, and all services remained operational. A report was filed with the Sheriff’s Office, which is collaborating with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) to probe the breach.

The county has also engaged its cyber insurance carrier, KCAMP, to assist affected employees with protective measures, including credit monitoring. Employees were advised to take steps to prevent fraudulent tax filings and safeguard their tax refunds.

Source: https://themercury.com/news/pott-county-reports-employee-data-breach/article_a6242f2d-26dd-5052-b320-f71434e5dc3b.html

Pottawatomie County Sheriff's Office, Kansas cybersecurity rating report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/pottawatomie-county-sheriff-s-office-kansas

"id": "POT1778295630",
"linkid": "pottawatomie-county-sheriff-s-office-kansas",
"type": "Breach",
"date": "5/2026",
"severity": "60",
"impact": "3",
"explanation": "Attack with significant impact with internal employee data leaks"

{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': 'Employees',
                        'industry': 'Public Sector',
                        'location': 'Pottawatomie County, Kansas, USA',
                        'name': 'Pottawatomie County',
                        'type': 'Government'}],
 'customer_advisories': 'Employees advised to take steps to prevent fraudulent '
                        'tax filings and safeguard their tax refunds',
 'data_breach': {'file_types_exposed': 'W2 forms',
                 'personally_identifiable_information': 'Names, addresses, '
                                                        'Social Security '
                                                        'numbers, wage details',
                 'sensitivity_of_data': 'High (Social Security numbers, wage '
                                        'details, addresses)',
                 'type_of_data_compromised': 'W2 forms, personally '
                                             'identifiable information (PII)'},
 'date_publicly_disclosed': '2024-05-05T18:15:00',
 'description': 'Pottawatomie County employees were notified of a data breach '
                'involving their W2 forms. The breach exposed sensitive '
                'personal information, including names, addresses, full Social '
                'Security numbers, and wage details.',
 'impact': {'data_compromised': 'W2 forms containing names, addresses, full '
                                'Social Security numbers, and wage details',
            'identity_theft_risk': 'High',
            'operational_impact': 'No impact on county’s IT network; all '
                                  'services remained operational'},
 'investigation_status': 'Ongoing',
 'references': [{'date_accessed': '2024-05-05', 'source': 'Local news report'}],
 'response': {'communication_strategy': 'Employees advised to prevent '
                                        'fraudulent tax filings and safeguard '
                                        'tax refunds',
              'law_enforcement_notified': 'Sheriff’s Office, Kansas Bureau of '
                                          'Investigation (KBI)',
              'remediation_measures': 'Credit monitoring for affected '
                                      'employees',
              'third_party_assistance': 'KCAMP (cyber insurance carrier)'},
 'title': 'Pottawatomie County Employees Hit by W2 Data Breach',
 'type': 'Data Breach'}