One of Canada’s largest mental health and addictions treatment services, Homewood Health, has admitted that some clients’ data was stolen and offered at auction. The self-described “leaked data marketplace” site Marketo said it had more than 180 gigabytes of the company’s data including documents referencing provincial and national organizations. [node:read-more:link]
Amazon.com has been fined €746 million by the European Union for processing personal data in violation of the bloc’s privacy laws but plans to appeal. While the ruling was only made public today by the Luxembourg National Commission for Data Protection, the decision was taken two weeks ago. [node:read-more:link]
A Russian district court has fined Google three million rubles (approx. $51,000 CAD) for violating personal data legislation. The company has confirmed the penalty, which is about half the possible maximum fine, but had no further comment. Meanwhile, a Moscow court has begun proceedings against Facebook and Twitter for the same alleged offence. [node:read-more:link]
An access-to information request for a week’s worth of emails, texts and other messages by the head of the Public Health Agency of Canada evidently could take at least five years to fulfill. This is according to an anonymous Ontario government employee seeking clarification about the circumstances which led to the dismissal of two scientists. [node:read-more:link]
The Communications Security Establishment says that Canadians are “very likely to encounter some form of foreign cyber interference” before and during the next federal election. “We assess that an increasing number of threat actors have the cyber tools, the organizational capacity, and a sufficiently advanced understanding of Canada's political landscape to direct cyber activity against future Canadian federal elections,” it says in a new threat assessment. [node:read-more:link]
Hackers linked to the Russian General Staff Main Intelligence have been scaling up attacks on western targets in the public and private sectors, according to the U.S. and Britain. “These are almost certainly still ongoing,” their security agencies caution in a new report. [node:read-more:link]
About 200 U.S. companies using the services of a Florida-based IT company, Kaseya, have been hit by a “colossal” ransomware attack. The cybersecurity company, Huntress Labs, says the July 2 hack by a suspected Russia group was spread through corporate networks which used Kasey’s software. [node:read-more:link]
President Joe Biden’s first budget, for 2022, includes $58.4 billion for 25 civilian agencies’ information technology improvement and maintenance as the administration furthers “the vision of digital government.” The request in the May 28 budget represents a 2.4 per cent increase from 2021. [node:read-more:link]
Information-sharing software developed by Fujitsu enabled hackers to leak data from Japanese government offices. Among other things, air traffic control data at Tokyo Narita Airport was compromised, prompting a cybersecurity alert. Fujitsu suspended the software's services pending an investigation. [node:read-more:link]
A report released May 24 by the Pentagon warns that the Russian military is more technologically advanced than the U.S. realized and is quickly developing artificial intelligence capabilities to gain battlefield advantage. However, the federally-funded Center for Naval Analyses, which supports the Navy and Marine Corps, also notes that Moscow’s capabilities are constrained because its AI efforts are primarily government funded. [node:read-more:link]
Alberta has ordered four universities to stop seeking research projects linked to the Chinese government. “I am deeply concerned about the potential theft of Canadian intellectual property and further concerned that research partnerships […] may be used by Chinese military and intelligence agencies,” Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides says. “More needs to be done to curb foreign state infiltration into our research and innovation centres.” [node:read-more:link]
The personal information of at least 144,000 Canadians has been mishandled by federal departments and agencies in the past two years and not everyone affected by a privacy breach was told about it. The Canada Revenue Agency was the lead offender with more than 3,000 incidents affecting close to 60,000 taxpayers. [node:read-more:link]
Public charging stations commonly found in many airports and other hubs are reportedly being used by criminals to gain access to personal data on mobile phones, tablets or laptops. So-called “juice jacking” evidently facilitates the installation of malware when a device is connected to a compromised power point even for a short-tern boost. [node:read-more:link]
The RCMP is investigating reports by a pulp-and-paper company in Richmond, B.C., that its systems have been infiltrated by malware. A spokesperson for Paper Excellence Canada Holdings Corp. says communications and some production capability have been affected. [node:read-more:link]
President Donald Trumps’ special envoy for international telecommunications policy, Robert Blair, has indicated that the U.S. won’t change its policy on intelligence-sharing with Britain despite the latter’s decision to allow Huawei access to British 5G networks. Trump had tried successfully to persuade Prime Minister Boris Johnson to exclude Huawei but Blair says “there will be no erosion of our overall intelligence sharing operation.” [node:read-more:link]
