Today the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) of Newfoundland and Labrador released an investigative report into the 2021 cyberattack on the province’s public health authorities.
The province has received the investigation report and will review the main findings and recommendations and submit a formal response to the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.
In response to this attack, the Newfoundland and Labrador government activated the provincial emergency response centers as well as the Newfoundland and Labrador Center for Health Information and the four regional health authorities to contain and mitigate the impact on the system while continuing to provide health services. Relevant authorities have been notified, including the Canadian Center for Cyber Security, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the OIPC, with other outside cybersecurity experts enlisted alongside the Government of Canada to provide advice and support Containment efforts to help health systems inspect, investigate and safely recover.
Quote
“We are pleased that the OIPC has determined that the province has taken appropriate steps to investigate and contain the cyber attack. This was a complex cybersecurity incident, but we are confident that adequate security measures have already been taken – and are being taken – to mitigate the risk of a possible future incident. We will continue to engage leading cybersecurity experts and work with the newly merged provincial health authority and other partners to realize our ongoing commitment to strengthening the privacy of personal health information for residents of Newfoundland and Labrador.”
Honorable John Hogan, KC
Minister of Justice and Public Security
-30-
05/24/2023
12:10 p.m
“Travel aficionado. Twitter scholar. Writer. Extreme coffee guru. Evil pop culture fanatic.”