Ontario’s chief justices have issued a warning that individuals involved in the provincial court system may have had their personal details stolen during a cyberattack affecting an online case-management platform. The public notification was released on September 2 by Ontario Chief Justice Michael H. Tulloch, Ontario Superior Court Chief Justice Patrick J. Boucher, and Ontario Court of Justice Chief Justice Sharon M. Nicklas. The security breach impacted C-Track, a digital case-management system owned by Thomson Reuters Canada Limited and utilized by the Court of Appeal for Ontario, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, and the Ontario Court of Justice to manage court documents and records. Thomson Reuters discovered unauthorized activity within a cloud environment on June 30, prompting an investigation with law enforcement that revealed the breach began months earlier in March, allowing an unauthorized party to access court records. The company clarified that while court data was impacted, the incident did not originate from the courts’ own networks or security systems. According to a website established by the company regarding the incident, confidential, redacted, or sealed information may have been affected, potentially exposing names and personal data, though the total number of records, specific types of data, and date ranges remain unspecified. Thomson Reuters stated that additional cybersecurity measures have since been implemented, products remain fully operational, and a call centre alongside credit monitoring services has been made available to affected individuals. The chief justices noted ongoing uncertainty regarding the exact files accessed, advising that anyone involved in court proceedings or mentioned in court records could potentially be affected. The same cybersecurity incident also impacted court systems utilizing C-Track across several U.S. states—including Alabama, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio, New Hampshire, and Wyoming—as well as the U.S. Virgin Islands. A U.S. website for the breach noted that exposed data could include social security numbers, driver’s licence numbers, and medical information, with New Hampshire’s judicial branch reporting that affected records spanned from 2002 to 2015. Reassuring the public of their commitment to transparency, Ontario’s chief justices emphasized that their priorities remain supporting impacted individuals, safeguarding court data, and collaborating with the provincial government to enhance security and mitigate future risks.
Source: cbc.ca
