TRUMBULL COUNTY, OH - On Monday Trumbull County announced a data breach, which resulted in limited services across several county departments. 

Trumbull County Recorder Dawn Zinni announced that all public information and e-filing services would be suspended due to an "incident" involving a third party.

In follow-up emails, County Auditor Martha Yoder indicated that they do not believe any county data is at risk; however, that assessment could change as the investigation progresses and more information comes to light.

Currently, there is still very little publicly known about the cause of the breach, who it affects, and the specifics of the investigation.

21 News has learned that the county's Information Technology (IT) department discovered the breach and promptly reset passwords.

Commissioner Denny Malloy stated that no financial or personal information was exposed, but it remains unclear how the breach occurred.

Commissioner Tony Bernard mentioned that the commissioners have been instructed to "say very little" about the situation.

"At some point in time we'll be able to discuss the whole situation and how we approached the incident. But right now I think it's just best for everybody to leave it at that right now," Bernard said.

Commissioner Rick Hernandez informed 21 News that a law firm is investigating the breach, although he did not know the name of the firm, even though it is being paid with taxpayer money.

Attempts to contact Tim Haniford, the county's director of IT operations, were unsuccessful.

Regarding a criminal investigation, Hernandez indicated that he does not believe there is one, claiming it would be too challenging to determine who is responsible.

This is not the first time the county has faced a security breach. Earlier this year, an employee in the auditor's office was scammed into transferring $80,000 to a fraudulent bank account purporting to be associated with Bazetta Township. The county lost a lawsuit over this incident, with the court ruling that the employees were not adequately trained to avoid such scams.

When 21 News visited Yoder's office today, we were informed that she was out attending a conference.