WRDSB lawyer clarifies police timeline in cyber attack
More details are emerging surrounding when the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) reported a cyber attack on its systems to police.
Questions were raised earlier this week when Waterloo regional police confirmed they had only been asked to investigate “recently.”
The board has said sensitive employee information dating back to the 1970s was accessed during the hack which it discovered on July 10. Some student data was also compromised.
On Wednesday, the board’s lawyer said the attack was reported to Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) on July 19 – nine days after the board says it was discovered.
“We notified the police on July 19 and we believed that would have opened an investigation,” said Eric Charleston, a lawyer for the WRDSB.
When CTV Kitchener contacted OPP about the investigation, they said provincial police would not be the ones to investigate and that an incident like this would be the jurisdiction of the regional police.
Charleston said the school board was not told the same thing by OPP.
He added they learned regional police would be investigating sometime in late August.
“Waterloo regional police reached out to us, and we've been sharing information with them ever since,” said Charleston.
Charleston couldn't comment on if anyone was investigating the cyber attack between the time OPP were notified on July 19, and when WRPS reached out around late August.
Charleston said the incident was originally reported to OPP because of their experience in this area.
“We've reported to OPP on a number of incidents, and they are highly capable, I would say [an] elite police authority, and they have great experience with these types of incidents,” Charleston said.
Charleston was only able to answer questions about the timeline of reporting to police, and not broader details around the cyber incident and how it is being handled.
The school board has said it's been assured any information that was stolen has been deleted.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Average hourly wage in Canada now $34.95: StatCan
Average hourly wages among Canadian employees rose to $34.95 on a year-over-year basis in April, a 4.7 per cent increase, according to a Statistics Canada report released Friday morning.
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
This iconic Canadian song is turning 50
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Oprah Winfrey: I set an unrealistic standard for dieting
Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday evening that she has long played a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Toronto police called to Drake's Bridle Path mansion for another alleged intruder on Thursday
Toronto police say a man who allegedly attempted to access Drake’s Bridle Path property was taken to hospital on Thursday after an altercation with security guards.
Flat tire on a highway? Here's why you shouldn't try to fix it
If you're cruising down a highway and realize you have a flat tire, you may want to think twice before stopping to fix it on the side of the road.
Storm-battered U.S. South is again under threat. A boy swept into a drain fights for his life
Dangerous storms crashed over parts of the U.S. South on Thursday even as the region cleaned up from earlier severe weather that spawned tornadoes, killed at least three people, and gravely injured a boy who was swept into a storm drain as he played in a flooded street.
Broadcaster and commentator Rex Murphy dead at 77: National Post
The National Post is reporting that Rex Murphy, the pundit and columnist who hosted a national call-in radio show for decades, has died.