Treasury board data leak

A malicious government employee has caused a major breach of the Treasury Board’s computer security. This data leak has caused nearly 31,450 victims.

Sretre du Québec is investigating a data leak at the Treasury Board Secretariat.

“The Quebec government’s work documents, as well as files containing citizens’ personal information, were found on external computer media at an employee’s home, contrary to security measures in place,” the Treasury Board said in a statement.

The data found are, in most cases, citizens’ surnames, first names and social insurance numbers.

The document points out that “the data targeted by this privacy breach is primarily related to the personal information of approximately 31,450 individuals, in databases created between 2009 and 2012, and to the process of qualifying candidates.”

“Citizens affected by this privacy breach will be notified by letter in the coming weeks. According to the conclusion of the inquiry, the Secretariat of the Treasury Board will see to it that the necessary relief measures are put in place with these persons.

The Commission for Information Access and the Government Cyber ​​Defense Center have taken over the case. Instead of repeating similar incidents, action was also taken, he said.