a former employee in city of edmonton accessed the personal information of over 5,000 employees in data breach in May 2021, the staff revealed on Wednesday.
In a news release, Open City End Technology (OCT) branch manager Daryl Croft said the employee downloaded documents from city-owned computers to a personal cloud-based account in May 2021.
“Given the size of the breach, the city hired an outside forensic IT consulting firm, which was able to access the cloud account and identify more than 157,000 records,” Croft said.
“We have no reason to believe that the records were shared beyond the employee, who is no longer employed by the City of Edmonton.”
The records are from 2018 to 2020. Types of files downloaded include, but are not limited to, employee discipline reports, settlement agreements, union seniority and retirees lists, and Alberta human rights complaints.
“Some of the files contained names and payroll numbers of employees. Other files included performance management information, seniority lists and recall information for employees who had been temporarily laid off,” Croft said.
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Croft said security measures were immediately strengthened after hearing about the OCT breach.
According to the city, since the breach was first reported, it has found no evidence of misuse of the information involved.
The City recommends those who worked for the City between 2018 and May 2021 who have questions about privacy related to this incident reach out to the City Clerk’s office at 780-496-1551.
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