The government ID numbers (SIN) of 900 Canadians was stolen from the data banks of the Canada Revenue Agency over a six-hour period, said the agency in a statement Monday, April 14, 2014.
Photo Credit: Sean Kilpatrick?CP

900 government ID numbers (SIN) stolen from Canada Revenue Agency data bank

After dealing with the “Heartbleed Bug” the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) responsible for collecting taxes announced, Monday (April 14), that the “Social Insurance Numbers (SIN) of approximately 900 taxpayers were removed from CRA systems by someone exploiting the Heartbleed vulnerability.”

A SIN number is a nine-digit number that a person needs to work in Canada or to have access to government programs and benefits.

The agency says those affected will be contacted via registered letters, and that any attempts to contact a taxpayer via email or telephone are fraudulent.

Anyone affected will be provided “with access to credit protection services at no cost. And we will apply additional protections to their CRA accounts to prevent any unauthorized activity.”

According to a statement from the CRA the “malicious breach of taxpayer data…occurred over a six-hour period”, but the agency did not say when that six hour breach occurred. It also added that other data “that may relate to businesses, that were also removed”.

Last week the agency, and then a number of government agencies shut down their websites because of the “Heartbleed Bug” a security flaw that allows access to passwords and users’ personal information in OpenSSL, a software code that encrypts and protects the privacy of passwords.

More information:
Canada Revenue Agency – Statement by the Commissioner of the Canada Revenue Agency on the Heartbleed bug – here
CBC News – Heartbleed bug: 900 SINs stolen from Revenue Canada – here

Update April 15, 2014: Canada’s federal police force the RCMP asked the Canada Revenue Agency last Friday to delay making public the fact that the SIN numbers had been stolen. See CBC News – RCMP asked Revenue Canada to delay news of SIN thefts – here

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