Ottawa's French public school board paid hackers a ransom following cyberattack
Ottawa's French public school board says it was the victim of a network security breach in October and it paid the hackers a ransom to secure the stolen data.
In a statement on its website, the Conseil des écoles publiques de l'Est de l'Ontario (CEPEO) said it was notified of the cyberattack on Oct. 18. The network was secured later that day, but officials learned hackers had stolen approximately 75 gigabytes worth of data about employees and some students and parents dating back to 2000 that was stored on a server at the board's main office.
"If you were employed by CEPEO at any time after 2000, your personal information may have been stored on the server," the board said. "We will use the contact details available to write to you personally within a week if your social insurance number, bank account number, unexpired credit card number, or date of birth has been compromised. Where applicable, we will also provide you with a free credit monitoring service for a period of 24 months."
The board explained that fewer students and parents, both current and former, were affected, and those who have been impacted will be contacted as soon as possible. The reason it took so long to announce the breach was because the board spent a lot of time analyzing what data was taken in order to offer the best advice, it said.
Anyone with questions about the incident is asked to reach out to cyberincident@cepeo.on.ca.
The school board did not say how much money was requested or paid to the hackers. In a statement, a CEPEO spokesperson said the board believed the payment was the best way to quickly secure the data.
"Protecting our community members was and remains our first priority. Therefore, after careful consideration, we made the decision to make a payment to the actors as it was the best chance to secure the data. We have received statements indicating that the data has been deleted. We are nonetheless providing this notification," the statement said.
"Our efforts are focused on identifying individuals whose compromised information included data commonly used to commit identity theft in order to support their notification. We encourage people who would like to know if their information was part of the stolen data to write to us."
The board has also contacted police and the Ontario privacy commissioner. Ottawa police would not comment.
Officials apologized to the people affected and urged them to remain vigilant for possible attempts to target them personally.
"We ask all members of our community to be vigilant. As always, you should watch out for phishing emails and other suspicious communications and monitor your financial accounts for any signs of fraudulent use," the CEPEO said.
More information about scams and frauds can be found at the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre's website.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Poilievre will do 'anything to win,' must condemn Alex Jones endorsement: Trudeau
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is ramping up his attacks on Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre as he promotes his government's federal budget.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
New evidence challenges the Pentagon's account of a horrific attack as the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan: CNN exclusive
New video evidence uncovered by CNN significantly undermines two Pentagon investigations into an ISIS-K suicide attack outside Kabul airport, during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
All Alberta wildfires to date in 2024 believed to be human-caused: province
There are 63 wildfires burning in Alberta's forest protection area as of Wednesday morning and seven mutual aid fires, including one in the Municipal District of Peace.
Video shows suspects waving weapons, smashing glass in Toronto jewelry store robbery
Arrests have been made after five men were captured on video rampaging through a jewelry store in Toronto, waving weapons and smashing glass display cases.
Pilot proposes to flight attendant girlfriend in front of passengers
A Polish pilot proposed to his flight attendant girlfriend during a flight from Warsaw to Krakow, and she said yes.
Ottawa injects another $36M into fund for those seriously injured or killed by vaccines
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
Ex-SNC executive sentenced to prison term in bridge bribery case
The RCMP says a former SNC-Lavalin executive has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison in connection with a bribery scheme for a bridge repair contract in Montreal.