CANADA UPDATE ON COMPUTER THEFT AT SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT OFFICEBy Kate Trotter
The Tri-City News
The private information of tens of thousands of people - current and former students and staff members - was stolen along with computer equipment in break-in last week at the School District 43 office.
But police say it's likely the thief or thieves were after the hardware, not the information on it.
In the overnight break-in at the Coquitlam school board office Aug. 23, three laptop computers, a projector and other unidentified items were taken that contained information used to direct-deposit paycheques of current and former employees. (Cheryl Quinton, the district's manager of communications, said she cannot say if the personnel information was on a computer or another stolen item.)
As the district scrambled to contact 13,400 people, staff realized data on students was also on the item, or items, stolen.
"Student information was in those files," said Quinton. "We need to get that out."
While she said there are no identifiers such as social insurance numbers or banking information, the data includes medical information, courses taken and schools attended.
A letter will be sent home with students once school starts next week but the data goes back to 1989 and it would be an enormous task to send a letter to every student, she said.
"Potentially, that's more than 100,000 students," she said. "We just can't do it via mail."
More than 13,000 current and former school district employees are being contacted by email and letter, however, about potential identity theft.
"Wednesday, it was realized that confidential employee information was stolen," Quinton said. "I'm not at liberty to say what it was contained on because, according to the RCMP, they are still not convinced it was a targeted theft and the perpetrators might not know what they are in possession of."
Cpl. Jane Baptista of Coquitlam RCMP said it is likely the computers and other items were stolen for the hardware's resale value and not for any information contained within.
"People who break into businesses and residences target computers and they don't want what's on them," she said. "They want the hardware.
"You can't say it's impossible [to access the data] but it's improbable - you have to have the right equipment and the right know-how."
The stolen data could be used to adopt an employee's identity and gain access to their bank or credit union accounts but Quinton stressed it is considered "possible identity theft" and no one has reported a breach of his or her personal security.
"We're asking people to contact their financial institution," she said. "We're finding that some banks are choosing to flag the accounts, others are advising that they change their bank account number."
By last Friday, 4,400 current part-time, full-time and casual employees were sent emails and letters about the potential for identity theft. Monday, as a steady stream of employees came to the board office to get information about protecting their bank accounts, it was determined 9,000 former or retired employees should also be informed.
Three casual employees were called in to help board staff with the mail-out and every printer and flat surface in the board office was used to get the mailing done. In addition to alerting their financial institutions, employees are being advised to keep an eye on their monthly bills and contact credit bureaus.
The wages of hiring staff to stuff envelopes and the bulk mail rate for 13,400 pieces of mail are the known costs but, Quinton said, the district is trying to deal with the problem first, then worry about the price.
Quinton also said the district is beefing up security as a consequence of the theft. The board office has an alarm system, which went off when the building was entered last Monday, but by the time the district's security runner arrived, the thief or thieves had gone.
"The RCMP has told us, in their investigation, that the security is adequate for the type of business it is," Quinton said.
Kathleen Thompson, president of Coquitlam Teachers' Association, said the union has been kept informed of the consequences of the theft and the district's response. She said she is concerned confidential employee information could be compromised by a theft.
"I'm certainly not an expert on where information that is that sensitive should be stored," Thomson said, "but, clearly, it was fairly easily accessible, and that's an issue I will be bringing up.
"Another concern I have is that because this happened toward the tail end of summer, a number of teachers - and not just teachers but other employees - aren't reachable because some of them are away."