SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) – St. Joseph County officials acknowledged a cyber attack by an Iranian-backed hacker group called Handala earlier this week.
County officials and council members held a news conference Thursday afternoon after the group claimed responsibility for the cyber attack against the county on Wednesday.
The group has previously taken credit for leaking FBI Director Kash Patel’s email last month.
County disputes breach claims
In a statement on its website, the group claims it took more than two terabytes of “sensitive” information from multiple county departments.
But St. Joseph County Commissioner Carl Baxmeyer disputed that, saying only third-party faxing services were hacked. He said the county’s internal information was not leaked.
“We’re trying to emphasize over and over that no internal data was compromised,” Baxmeyer said.
When asked about specific samples posted online — including documents that appear to include personal information — the county’s chief information officer said the review is still underway.
“Again, we’re still investigating, so I don’t have answers for you right now,” said Richard Warfield, chief information officer for St. Joseph County.
Some of the material posted appears to include death certificates, prescription information and legal documents. The authenticity of those files posted on the group’s website has not been verified.
Officials said anyone who believes their information may have been compromised can contact the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners.
Warfield said the county received some of the leaked documents through a fax machine on March 31. That’s when the county started investigating the data breach.
He said the county is working with federal, state and local law enforcement.
You can watch the full news conference below:
Stay up to date on local news with WNDU on-air and online. Be sure to download the 16 News Now App and follow our YouTube page as we continue to bring you the latest news coverage.
Copyright 2026 WNDU. All rights reserved.
Click Here For The Original Source.
