Canadian Privacy Commissioner says he is reviewing Bell customer information hack

Canadian privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien has said he is reviewing the anonymous hacking incident that compromised Bell customer information.

Therrien’s job is to investigate cases where the privacy rights of Canadians may have been violated. When asked by Reuters in a phone interview if Bell Canada had followed proper procedures in response to the cyber attacks, Therrien said his office is “waiting for a fuller report sometime today.”

The media company said the illegally accessed information was made up of 1.9 million active email addresses and approximately 1,700 names and active phone numbers. However, it said that “there is no indication that any financial, password or other sensitive personal information was accessed.”

Bell says it has been reaching out to those who are directly affected. If an email address was accessed, Bell says customers will be contacted by phone, and vice-versa. Those who haven’t been contacted by end of day May 16th have not had their information affected.

Below is an image of messages that affected customers have been receiving:

Those looking more information on cyber security are asked to visit the websites for RCMP or the federal government.

As well, a list of general best practices for keeping information safe can be found here.

Source: Reuters