Cape sheriff’s office employee on leave after data breach

A Cape Cod sheriff’s office has placed an employee on leave for allegedly leaking personal information about past and present employees, officials announced Friday

The Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) released a statement saying it learned about the breach on April 22. Officials said the breach appears to be an intentional act and “not the result of a failure of our digital or cybersecurity safeguards.”

A spokesperson for Sheriff Donna D. Buckley’s office said, “Based on information to date, the employee sent an email to their personal, non-BSCO email account. The email contained a spreadsheet with the names, home addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, and social security numbers of one current and over 100 former [BSCO] employees.”

Officials did not identify the employee but said they had been placed on administrative leave while the matter was further investigated.

The sheriff’s office is notifying affected employees and the Attorney General’s Office.

“Because this matter remains under investigation, we cannot comment further at this time,” the spokesperson said.