Pandemic rebate cheques from the Insurance Corp. of B.C. scheduled to be sent to customers mid-March will now be delayed due to a cyberattack.
The delay could be as long as several weeks, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said Thursday, because the contractor handling the payments has to reprint the cheques. The “criminal attack” targeted only addresses and names of ICBC customers, and there is no indication even that information was compromised, he said.
ICBC said the cyberattack hit a third-party vendor contracted to provide printing and distribution services. ICBC said that the vendor had customer names, addresses, COVID-19 rebate cheques amounts and cheque numbers but that there was “no indication” that the hackers got this information.
The contractor is a well-known company in Kanata, Ontario that handles cheque services for a range of clients in government and the private sector, Farnworth said March 18.
“The event did not impact ICBC’s systems, which are secure,” the auto insurer said in a statement March 17. ICBC had planned to begin sending out cheques this week but those plans are now on hold. “ICBC is optimistic the delay will be minimal. The corporation is working on options to issue cheques to our customers in the coming weeks.”
READ MORE: ICBC paying out COVID-19 rebates averaging $190
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