Canadian school photo company says hackers held Sask. students' pictures for ransom
A Canadian school photography company says it was hit by a ransomware attack that held about 3,500 photos of students in several Saskatchewan school divisions hostage, among others across the country.
On Feb. 15, Edge Imaging contacted the office of the privacy commissioner to disclose a “cyber incident that may have affected school divisions across Canada,” according to a report released last week.
In a letter to the commission, Edge Imaging said the breach affected Entourage, the owner of its yearbook software web platform Creator Studio Pro, after the service noticed a breach of its Canadian Amazon Web Services cloud server “that may have affected uploaded images of school boards’ students and staff.
“On February 5, 2024, Entourage recognized a cyber incident on its cloud server due to a compromised username and password of one of its server accounts. The result was a ransomware attack where the threat actor removed photo images on a storage container on that server,” Edge wrote to Ron Kruzeniski, Saskatchewan’s privacy commissioner.
“We are advised by Entourage that the photos were ‘raw’ and likely contained no other identifying information such as associated names, schools, grades, location, or captions. Entourage recently commented that there may have been some metadata associated with the photos depending on the device from which the photos were uploaded. For instance, it is possible that metadata such as time the photo was taken and location of the photo may have been attached to some photos.”
According to Kruzeniski, just over 3,500 images of Saskatchewan students and staff were held ransom by the hackers, affecting people in the Horizon, Living Sky and Prairie Spirit school divisions.
In total, about 400 of the photography company’s clients were affected by the ransomware attack. The largest cache of photos stolen in Saskatchewan came from schools in Muenster and St. Brieux.
Edge, the Canadian photography company, said the attack was limited to its yearbook software service provider Entourage, and did not affect its own internal IT.
Edge told Kruzeniski’s office the images involved in the hack included a lot of candid photos of school events and clubs.
“Schools often upload photos of clubs, events or candid photos that are often included in a yearbook,” Edge told the commission. “Where we are the school photography provider, we do upload photos from the school photography sessions.”
Photos taken by Edge Imaging would have very limited metadata attached, but photos uploaded directly by schools for use in the yearbook, such as those captured by students and parents, could have more detailed information in the metadata, depending on the settings of each individual’s camera, the company said.
In his report, Kruzeniski writes that it’s possible the people in the photos could be identified.
“It is likely that some of the images as described by the school divisions and Edge, if not all, could lead to the identification of the individuals on them based on factors such as race, ethnic origin, age, appearance in a certain location, etc. This would then reveal information that is personal in nature about an identifiable individual. Based on this, I find that there is personal information involved.”
Many of the stolen files were later recovered by Entourage, Kruzeniski says, but given that his office has worked on cases where stolen data was found for sale on the dark web years later, “there are no assurances that the breach was fully contained.”
To read about the school divisions’ response to the privacy breach and Kruzeniski’s recommendations to prevent future breaches, read the full report here.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trudeau considering his options as leader after Freeland quits cabinet, sources say
Chrystia Freeland, Canada's finance minister, said in an explosive letter published Monday morning that she will quit cabinet. Here's what happened on Monday, Dec. 16.
'We're not united': Liberal caucus meets, as PM Trudeau faces fresh calls to resign in light of Freeland's departure
The federal Liberals called an emergency caucus meeting Monday night, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced renewed calls from some members of his party to resign. As MPs emerged, the message was mixed.
'Eventful day,' Trudeau says after Chrystia Freeland quits cabinet, LeBlanc tapped to replace her
In a stunning move, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced her resignation from Justin Trudeau's cabinet on Monday, after the prime minister told her he no longer wanted her in the top economic post. After hours of turmoil, Dominic LeBlanc, was sworn-in as her replacement in the finance portfolio.
Feds deliver fall economic statement with $61.9B deficit for 2023-24, amid political turmoil
Amid the news that Chrystia Freeland has resigned from her cabinet position as finance minister, the Department of Finance on Monday unveiled the long-anticipated fall economic statement, which reports a deficit of $61.9-billion for 2023-24.
W5 Investigates Connecting the dots on a landlord scam: how clues revealed a prolific con artist at work
In part one of a three-part investigation, W5 correspondent Jon Woodward reveals how a convicted con artist bilked dozens of people in a landlord scam.
Judge rules Trump does not have presidential immunity protections in hush money conviction
Donald Trump's felony conviction in the New York hush money case should not be tossed out because of the Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity.
Canadian hero Terry Fox being featured on next $5 bill
The federal government is paying tribute to Canadian hero Terry Fox by featuring him on the next $5 bank note, officials revealed Monday.
Wisconsin school shooter who killed teacher, student was 17-year-old girl, police say
A teenage student opened fire with a handgun Monday at a Christian school in Wisconsin, killing a teacher and another teenager during the final week before Christmas break. The shooter also died, police said.
Travel risk: Which countries does Canada recommend avoiding?
Canadians planning to travel abroad over the holidays should take precautionary steps to ensure they're not unintentionally putting themselves in harm's way.