Interior Health is looking to speak to employees who worked at the health authority between 2003 and 2009 as it investigates an apparent data breach.
They say the public call out comes after the Vernon North Okanagan RCMP seized a document that contained the personal information of more than 20,000 people, including some current and former employees, in January as part of an investigation.
IH says while the document contained the names, dates of birth, social insurance numbers, home addresses, phone numbers, and ages of employees, it did not contain any patient information.
They’re asking people who were employed in that seven year period to call 1-833-705-2569 toll-free to determine if their information was impacted, saying those found on the list will be provided free credit monitoring for two years.
Speaking on NL Newsday, Brent Kruschel, Interior Health’s Vice President of Digital Health, says there is a lot of information they don’t have.
“What we can’t say for certain is whether or not this specific file recovered by the RCMP links directly to any incidents of identity theft,” he said. “What we can say for certain is we do want to act out of an abundance of caution. We want to help protect our employees.”
“We don’t actually know the source of this information and the records contained in the file are not exclusively current and former Interior Health employees, so there is a bit of a mix of data.”
Kruschel says Interior Health is taking steps to contact the roughly 7,000 current employees whose information is included in the document.
“Where we able to identify active employees, they are not just limited to the Okanagan, it would include Kamloops, Williams Lake, the Kootenays,” Kruschel added. “So it is the entire Interior Health region.”
Kruschel also says Interior Health has contracted external security experts who determined that none of the information made it onto the dark web.
Police say they have not made any arrests linked to this apparent data breach, though they are still investigating.
“We are releasing this information so potentially impacted individuals can take the necessary steps to safeguard themselves,” Vernon North Okanagan RCMP spokesperson Const. Chris Terleski said, in a statement. “It is a timely reminder that identity fraud continues to be a persistent threat in our community and brings to light the importance of taking proactive steps to safeguard yourself.”
IH says the dedicated toll free number it set up will be staffed between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday to Friday. There is also additional information for staff online.