[BreachExchange] Personal information of 360, 000 Quebec teachers may have been compromised

[Destry Winant]

https://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/personal-information-of-360000-quebec-teachers-may-have-been-compromised

Personal information of almost 360,000 teachers could have been leaked
by the fraudulent use of a password and access code, the Quebec
government said on Friday.

QUEBEC — Personal information of almost 360,000 teachers could have
been leaked by the fraudulent use of a password and access code, the
Quebec government said on Friday.

The Treasury Board made the statement amid an investigation by the
Sûreté du Québec on identity theft affecting current and former
teachers.

The “at fault individuals” accessed a database with personal
information after discovering a username and password, the statement
said.

A year ago, the SQ arrested two men in Montreal related to several
identity thefts committed in spring 2018 in several regions of Quebec.

The board said the reliability of the government’s information
technology systems was not put in doubt, “since the theft was done
through the fraudulent use of a password and access code.”

The government said people affected will be offered free credit
monitoring services. Information is accessible at quebec.ca, and
letters will be sent to those affected. The main teachers’ unions were
advised on Friday.

The Fédération des syndicats de l’enseignement, affiliated with the
Centrale des syndicats du Québec, demanded that the government ensure
such a leak never happens again and that teachers are “fully
supported” in protecting their personal data.

“All (the victims) must be able to finally see the light at the end of
the tunnel of this administrative nightmare,” said FSE-CSQ president
Josée Scalabrini. “The data was stolen from the education ministry,
which has the responsibility of securing the data it holds. It must
now ensure that this situation never happens again.”

The SQ is continuing its investigation, with the collaboration of the
education ministry.