VERTICAL SCOPE CONFIRMS USER DATA STOLEN

Toronto- based Vertical Scope Inc. says six of the community websites it administers were hacked last month in the latest of a recent series of data breaches affecting Canadian online user information. The company says in an emailed statement an “unauthorized party” gained access to community member data for six of its websites on Oct. 17 and 21 and some of the data was disclosed online. It says the data did not include credit card or banking information but did include usernames, email addresses, encrypted passwords, user identifications, registration dates and IP addresses for websites including DIYchatroom.com, PBnation.com, HysterSisters.com, ToyotaNation.com, JeepForum.com and WatchUSeek.com.