Provincial Government Response to OIPC Investigation Report

  • Justice and Public Safety

May 24, 2023

Today, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) of Newfoundland and Labrador released an Investigation Report into the 2021 cyberattack on the provincial health authorities.

The province has received the Investigation Report and will review the key findings and recommendations and provide a formal response to the Privacy Commissioner’s Office.

In response to this attack, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador activated the provincial Emergency Operations Centres, along with the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Health Information and the four Regional Health Authorities to contain and mitigate system impacts, while continuing to provide health care services. The appropriate authorities were notified, including the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the OIPC, with additional external cybersecurity experts along with the Government of Canada engaged to provide advice and assist with efforts to contain, investigate, and safely restore health care systems.

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“We are pleased the OIPC found that the province took reasonable steps to investigate and contain the cyberattack. This was a complex cybersecurity incident, but we are confident that reasonable security steps have already been taken – and are being taken – to mitigate the risk of a potential future incident. We will continue to engage leading experts in cyber security and work with the new amalgamated provincial health authority and other partners as part of our continuing commitment to strengthen the privacy protection for personal health information of residents of Newfoundland and Labrador.”
Honourable John Hogan, KC
Minister of Justice and Public Safety

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2023 05 24 12:10 pm