Grand Traverse County, Michigan officials yesterday confirmed the county notified 782 people of a June 2024 data breach that compromised their names and Social Security numbers.
“The County discovered unauthorized system activity in its network environment,” says the county’s notice to victims. “The third-party digital forensic investigation determined that personal information was contained in network locations that were compromised by the unauthorized third-party.”
According to the date on the notice, the county notified victims more than 15 months after the breach occurred. The average notification time following a data breach is about 4 months.
No ransomware gangs have publicly claimed responsibility for the breach.
We do not know how attackers compromised the county’s network. Comparitech contacted county officials for comment and will update this article if they respond.
Grand Traverse County is offering eligible victims 12 months of free credit monitoring through Cyberscout. The deadline to enroll is 90 days from receipt of the notice letter.
Ransomware attacks on US government
Comparitech researchers logged 95 confirmed ransomware attacks on US government entities in 2024 and have recorded 64 in 2025 so far. These attacks compromised more than 2.5 million records in 2024 and 443,000 in 2025 to date.
Ransomware gangs took credit for the following such attacks:
- Vienna, VA notified 811 people of an August 2025 data breach claimed by Cephalus ransomware
- Union County, OH notified 45,487 people of a May 2025 ransomware attack
- St. Joseph, MO notified 11,538 people of a June 2025 ransomware attack
Ransomware attacks on government entities can both steal data and lock down computer systems. They can disrupt any number of government systems from bill payments to court records and even emergency dispatch. Organizations must pay a ransom for the stolen data and to restore systems, or else they face extended downtime, permanent data loss, and putting data subjects at increased risk of fraud.
About Grand Traverse County, Michigan
Grand Traverse County is home to nearly 100,000 people, making it the most populous county in northern Michigan. The county seat is Traverse City.
