Nearly 1.5 million affected by data breach at Alberta Dental Service Corporation

A significant data breach has compromised the personal information of about 1.47 million Albertans, the Alberta Dental Service Corporation said Thursday.

In a statement, ADSC said certain data from public dental benefits programs it administers for the provincial government was implicated in a recent cybersecuritybreach.

ADSC learned it was the victim of a ransomware attack and called in cybersecurity experts to assist with containment, remediation, and to conduct a comprehensive forensic investigation into the nature and extent of the incident.

The information includes names, addresses, and for some, personal banking information, the corporation said.

The release said fewerthan 7,300 people have their personal banking information on file, those whoproactively provided their banking details.

Lyle Best, the chairman of ADSC and Quikcard Solutions Inc., saidtheybecame aware of the incident on July 10.

"The period of compromise was May 7 July 9 ... and the unauthorized third party accessed and copied certain data from our network before deploying the malware," ADSC said in a notice on its website.

Best said those who had their banking information exposed were part of the seniors program and being paid electronically, and all those affected are being contacted.

"Tonight, tomorrow and then on Monday there'll be a call centre set up for them and they'll get a code and they can have their credit monitored for next two years," he said.

"And then the others will get a letter just saying some of your information may have been seen by these actors, but it's really not anything that they're going to be able to do anything with as opposed to the seniors who had some banking information looked at."

Best said they notified the privacy commissioner and Alberta government to let them know thatdata had been exposed.

Law enforcement has also been notified, the corporation said.

The corporation has also provided guidance on what anyone who may have been affected can do to remain vigilant.