A series of technological and administrative gaps caused a high-profile data breach at Desjardins — the largest to date in the Canadian financial services sector, the federal privacy watchdog has found.
In a report today, privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien said Desjardins did not demonstrate the level of attention needed to protect the sensitive personal information entrusted to its care.
The incident compromised the data of nearly 9.7 million Canadians.
“Canadians expect banking information to have a high level of protection, given its sensitivity,” Therrien told a news conference today.
For at least 26 months, a malicious employee was siphoning sensitive personal information collected by Desjardins from customers who had purchased or received products through the organization, Therrien found.
This information was originally stored in two data warehouses to which the employee in question had limited access, the commissioner said.
However, other employees, in the course of fulfilling their work, would regularly copy that information onto a shared drive. As a result, employees who would not usually have the required clearance or the need to access some of the confidential data were able to do so, Therrien found.
The commissioner says the investigation into the breach sheds light on the risks of internal threats, whether they are intentional or not.
The investigation revealed that Desjardins failed to meet several of its obligations under the federal privacy law governing companies. Therrien found:
- Desjardins did not ensure proper implementation of its policies and procedures for managing personal information, some of which were inadequate;
- The access controls and data segregation of the company’s databases and directories were lacking;
- Employee training and awareness were inadequate, considering the sensitive nature of the personal information;
- Desjardins did not have proper procedures regarding the periodic destruction of personal information.
Desjardins agreed to a series of recommendations to improve information security and the protection of personal data, Therrien said.
The company has committed to provide progress reports every six months as well as hire external auditors to assess and certify its programs.
Therrien’s office and the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec, which also published its report today, co-ordinated their respective probes.
Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
Want to support local journalism? Make a donation here.
