A security breach related to Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccine portal has exposed the personal information of approximately 360,000 people in the province.
“In more than 95% of cases, only names and/or phone numbers were affected,” Ontario’s Ministry of Business and Public Service Delivery said in a statement.
Affected individuals will begin receiving email notifications on Friday if their personal information was part of this breach, CTV News reported.
On November 16, 2021, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) launched an investigation after discovering that people who had made appointments or accessed vaccination certificates through the COVID-19 Immunization System had received emails suspicious.
A week later, two people were charged – one of them was a government employee. Ottawa resident Ayoub Sayid, 21, and Quebec resident Rahim Abdu, 22, were both charged with unauthorized use of a computer.
“Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccine reservation system is regularly monitored and tested under Ministry of Health cybersecurity protocols and we remain confident that the reservation system continues to be a safe and secure tool that Ontarians can use,” the minister said.