Province Estimates 100K Affected In Cyber Attack

Written by Bobby Nock. Posted in Local News

The province is estimating as many as a hundred-thousand of its employees may have been affected by an attack on the file-sharing system MOVEit, including employees of the Health Authority, the IWK and the public service.

Cyber Security Minister Colton LeBlanc says the information stolen includes social insurance numbers, addresses and banking information. 

LeBlanc isn’t saying if, or how many, people outside government have been affected.

The province says it will be offering free credit monitoring to those affected and those people will be contacted over the coming weeks.

Microsoft is blaming the attack on a ransomware group called Clop but LeBlanc isn’t commented on the claim.  

The province says the system went back online yesterday afternoon and additional security updates and monitoring have been installed.

An investigation continues, and updates and information can be found online at novascotia.ca/privacy-breach.

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NS Launches Online Wait Time Data Tool

Written by Bobby Nock. Posted in Local News

The Health Authority has launched what it calls a new information tool that predicts waiting times in emergency departments.

The predicted wait times at 10 emergency departments, including the Regional Hospital in Sydney, can be found on the Nova Scotia Health website at: https://www.nshealth.ca/edwaittimes 

The Health Authority says the predicted wait times are based on recent data and are updated hourly.

The page also allows people to look at forecast wait times up to 12 hours in the future.

 

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Police Seeking Missing Man

Written by Bobby Nock. Posted in Local News

Regional Police are looking for the public’s help finding a missing man who was recently living in Sydney.

56-year-old Darren Joseph Landry is originally from Gardiner Mines.

He’s described as 5’ 9” tall with brown hair and a brown beard.

Police say Landry hasn’t been in contact with anyone since he left his home on Union St. in Sydney on Wednesday of last week.

Anyone who has information on Landry is asked to call police or Crime Stoppers.

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RCMP Seek Missing Man

Written by Bobby Nock. Posted in Local News

RCMP are looking for the public’s help finding a man who went missing in the Margaree area last week.  

33-year-old Tyler Douglas McKay was last seen in Belle Cote on Tuesday.

McKay is described as 5-foot-10 and 140 pounds, with short, dark blond hair and a beard

He was last seen wearing grey pants and a camo hoodie.

Police say McKay may be driving a beige-grey 2008 Nissan Rogue with the licence plate GDE 129.

Anyone who has information about McKay is asked to call RCMP or Crime Stoppers.

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Province Investigating Major Theft Of Personal Data

Written by Bobby Nock. Posted in Local News

The province says personal information has been stolen in a breach of a file transfer system used by the government but there’s no word yet how many people have been affected.

The province says the breach is part of a global problem with the service called MOVEit that’s used by many government and private organizations to share personal health, financial, and other information.

The service has been taken offline, and cybersecurity experts have been called in to help.

Cyber Security and Digital Solutions Minister Colton LeBlanc told reporters yesterday no one has contacted the government to try to sell the information back.

The province says those affected by the breach will be contacted directly once they’ve been identified and officials will share more information as their investigation continues.

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