Elmore County, Idaho, is alerting residents of a recent data breach linked to several employee email accounts.
According to local news sources, Elmore County recently experienced a data breach impacting individuals who received emergency medical services from the county.
In a notice published on their website, government officials stated that notices were mailed out to impacted individuals beginning June 13th, 2025.
Their investigation determined that an unauthorized actor accessed some employees’ email accounts between April 14th and April 19th, 2025. An unknown number of emails may have been accessed or downloaded during this time.
According to their notice, “On April 15th, 2025, the county learned that one employee’s email account sent spam emails.” On May 12th, 2025, the investigation was completed and the county began locating address information to provide notice to impacted individuals.
Elmore County filed a report with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, noting that 931 individuals were impacted.
This particular breach shows the vulnerability emails can have when it comes to protected health information. Emails often hold a trove of valuable information–from questions about medical procedures to time-sensitive documentation. All of this information can be valuable on the dark web if stolen
Some smaller organizations believe that because of their size, they are unlikely to become the victim of a data breach. Any organization that carries sensitive data can become a target for malicious actors. Furthermore, malicious actors often target organizations that may have outdated cybersecurity practices, as these can be easier to infiltrate.
Many malicious groups attack organizations based purely on opportunity; even smaller breaches can result in hefty payments on the black market. Smaller organizations may also be willing to pay ransoms if they believe payment will result in their data being returned. Every organization, no matter how big or small, should invest in cybersecurity software
Yes, every breach has an impact. Breaches also have the ability to compound on each other, meaning that if someone had data accessed in a certain breach, another breach may result in even more of that person’s protected health information (PHI) available on the dark web. Once someone has a significant amount of data on the dark web, they may be more prone fraud or identity theft attempts.