Ontario home care service provider victim of cyber attack

One of Ontario’s most prominent home care service providers has announced it has become the victim of a cyber attack.

CarePartners said in a statement on Monday the attack breached its computer system and, as a result, both patient and employee information, including personal health and financial information, was inappropriately accessed.

“Acting immediately in partnership with Ontario’s Local Health Intergration Networks (LHIN), CarePartners took direct steps to prevent additional exposure and close vulnerabilities,” the statement said. “CarePartners retained Herjavec Group (HG), a leading cybersecurity firm, to contain and determine the extent of the breach.”

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The Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner and the police have also been contacted and are investigating.

Furthermore, LHIN and CarePartners have suspended their online referral system until the “breach is full contained.”

The statement said patient care has not been compromised.

“Ontario’s LHINs’ and CarePartners’ priority is to provide continuing care to LHIN home care patients and protect the security of patient information. CarePartners is also working to ensure continuity of care and information security of its other clients and the security of its employee records.”