‘Unauthorized activity’ affecting Ontario courts leads to data breach

Ontario’s chief justices say the province’s court system has been affected by a data breach.

A statement, posted Sept. 2, indicates the cyber security incident unfolded on June 30 when Thomson Reuters Canada detected “unauthorized activity” on its C–Track case management platform.

C–Track is used by the courts to store and manage some documents and records, the justices said.

Thomson Reuters took steps to contain the activity and determined the data that was accessed included some information from the courts. The justices said there is no evidence to date that the incident has resulted in any identity theft.

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“Because there remains uncertainty about the exact content of the files that may have been accessed, it is still unclear what information may have been compromised. However, if individuals have been involved in court proceedings or may have been mentioned in court documents, it is possible that some personal information relating to them could have been involved in the incident,” they said.

The statement was shared on the Ontario courts’ website and attributed to Michael H. Tulloch, chief justice of Ontario, Patrick J. Boucher, chief justice of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and Sharon M. Nicklas, chief justice of the Ontario Court of Justice.

“There is also currently no indication that any systems used to process financial transactions relating to court proceedings were affected by the incident.”

Thomson Reuters has added additional safeguards and security enhancements, the justices added.

The investigation remains ongoing.