A security breach related to Ontario’s Covid-19 vaccine portal has exposed the personal information of about 360,000 people in the province.
“In over 95% of cases, only names and/or phone numbers were affected,” Ontario’s Ministry of Business and Public Service Delivery said in a statement.
CTV News reports that affected individuals will begin receiving email notifications on Friday if their personal information was part of the breach.
On November 16, 2021, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) launched an investigation after discovering that people who made appointments or accessed vaccination certificates through the COVID-19 Immunization System received suspicious emails.
A week later, two people were charged – one of them a civil servant. Ayub Saeed, 21, of Ottawa, and Rahim Abdu, 22, of Quebec, were both charged with unauthorized use of a computer.
“Ontario’s Covid-19 vaccine reservation system is regularly monitored and tested under the Ministry of Health’s cybersecurity protocols, and we are confident that the reservation system continues to be a safe and secure tool for Ontarians to use,” the minister said.
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