The local English Catholic school board's warning employee info has likely been compromised after a "significant number of files" were taken in a cyberattack just ahead of the holidays.
The Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board closed schools for the holidays a couple days early after they found out about the "cyber-incident" the morning of December 15th, and - in an update issued today, the first day back to classes - the board confirms "the perpetrators who compromised our network did steal a significant number of files from a Board file server", though they've since claimed those were deleted and the Board believes "the risk of misuse is low".
Still, the Board is continuing to investigate, analyzing what was taken - a process it says could take months, given the number of files - but it has determined employees employed in the last four tax years - 2019 to 2022 - are likely affected, with information such as social insurance numbers, date of birth information, compensation information, banking information, and garnishment information exposed - it promises affected employees will be notified by letter within two weeks, and offered a free two-year credit monitoring service.
The HSCDSB adds "some students and parents will likely be affected by the incident, though it will take the Board time to analyze data to determine who is affected and to what extent", with those affected to be notified "as appropriate and in light of our findings".
"Sincerely" apologizing for the "concerning" news, the Board assures it's "already made improvements to our network security, and once our investigation is complete will respond to the findings in a manner that better protects us from the very significant cyber risks which face school boards across the province today".
