Data breach at IH under investigation

Hundreds of employee records found in Lower Mainland following arrests over the last 3 months

Interior Health is investigating after hundreds of its employees records were found in the possession of two people in the Lower Mainland following arrests in the last three months. IH first became aware of a potential information breach in late June when it was contacted by RMCP in the Lower Mainland following the arrest of an individual who was in possession of personal information of a number of people, the majority of whom were identified as IH employees.

An internal investigation was initiated and affected employees were immediately contacted, the health authority stated in a news release.

On Sept. 20, IH was notified by RCMP of a second similar situation involving a different individual.

“It’s unclear how this information was obtained, but we see some linkages between the two incidents, which has resulted in us enlisting the support of external security consultants,” said Mal Griffin, vicepresident of human resources for IH.

About 500 current and former IH employees are affected by these breaches.

“The protection of our employees’ personal information is extremely important to us,” said Griffin. “We take this seriously, including the distress this situation may cause for our staff, and have moved quickly to investigate this matter.”

All affected employees are being offered one year of credit-monitoring services.

There is currently no concern about breaches of patient information, said Griffin.

IH has reported both incidents to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner.

IH would not say which communities are affected by the breach as the investigation is ongoing.