
Ontario employee among 2 people charged in COVID-19 vaccine portal security breach
CTV
A government employee is among two people charged following an investigation into a security breach related to Ontario's COVID-19 immunization system.
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) say they were first asked to investigate the breach on Nov. 17 after the government received reports of spam text messages received by individuals who scheduled appointments or accessed vaccine certificates through the COVID-19 immunization system.
The security breach was confirmed publicly on Monday, with the Solicitor General's office telling CTV News Toronto that the reported texts were "financial in nature."
CTV News Toronto spoke with two residents who received phishing text messages they believe could have been related to the breach. Both messages were addressed to their children using their full names.
"What really triggered it for me was the spelling of her name. It was her name, her full name with middle name, and her middle name was fully capitalized and the only time I've ever seen that was on her vaccine passport," Toronto resident Carla Embleton said.