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Nova Scotia Power continues to struggle
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following that ransomware attack earlier
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in the spring. Today, the utility
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revealed even past customers had
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information stolen by bad actors in the
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data breach. CTV's Hafsa Arv joins us in
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the newsroom. Hafsa, what else did the
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utility have to say in its update today?
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Todd, we're learning the Nova Scotia
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Powers cyber attack is more farreaching
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than initially reported. Even those who
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may have long since closed their
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accounts, moved homes, or assumed their
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information was lo no longer on file may
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now be in the hands of cyber criminals.
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Nova Scotia Power confirmed last month
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hackers accessed the company's system in
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March. And it's not just names and
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addresses. The compromised information
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may include birth dates, phone numbers,
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energy usage, billing history, and in
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some cases, bank account numbers, and
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social insurance numbers. The utility
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still has a third-party cyber security
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expert determining the full scope of
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what's been taken. And as that
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investigation continues, the company is
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upping its offer of free credit
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monitoring from 2 years to 5 years for
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all past and present customers whether
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or not they've received a notification.
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Here's an expert we spoke with had to
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I am encouraged that they are extending
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the length of time for the credit
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monitoring. that that's certainly going
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to help. But the reality is for people
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that lost a ton of sensitive information
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that would allow people to potentially
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uh impersonate them or create new
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accounts. This is going to be a lifelong
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problem. Since the cyber attack, Nova
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Scotia Power has sent out 280,000
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letters to people who were affected. But
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this new update shows even more
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customers may be impacted. For now,
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anyone in Nova Scotia can sign up for
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credit monitoring on the company's
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website, Todd. All right, Havsa Araf in
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the newsroom with us tonight. We will be
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following this, of course.