Other data breaches at iA Financial Group and its subsidiaries

Data breaches continued at iA Financial Group and its subsidiaries in 2019. The personal information of thousands of customers is likely to have been accessed by thieves.

• Read also: Personal data: more letters to members in connection with the leaks at Desjardins

In recent days, the Quebec insurer has sent a letter to 5,000 clients of its subsidiary PPI, a national insurance marketing company, about an incident dating back to the fall of 2019.

In fact, according to the management of iA Financial Group, seven staff mailboxes have been the target of phishing. The perpetrators were then able to access sensitive information such as names, dates of birth, social insurance numbers and financial information.

“These types of cyber incidents have become an increasingly growing threat to individuals and businesses, and we take our role in continuously improving security measures very seriously,” said Jim Virtue, president and chief operating officer. of PPI.

iA Financial Group told the Journal to have opened an internal investigation with cybersecurity experts. The company emphasizes having also tightened its security protocols, in particular with an upgrade of anti-spam technology.

It was 98.5 FM that first reported the news on Tuesday.

“The verification process took time and had to be precise so that we could ensure that we are notifying the right parties without risking sharing personal information inappropriately or providing incomplete information on a case-by-case basis,” notes Mr. Virtue.

Protection

According to iA Financial Group, there is no reason to believe that the data has been misused. The insurer also specifies that the number of victims represents “less than half a percent of the files of the company”, whose head office is in Ontario.

Over the next five years, PPI will offer those affected, including approximately 300 in Quebec and the rest mainly in Ontario, the credit report monitoring service with Equifax.

The company says it reported this incident, among others, to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

In the summer of 2019, iA Financial Group was also the victim of various phishing attempts, on June 20, July 8 and July 11. The personal information of approximately 2,864 clients had been exposed. No complaint had been lodged with the police.

A call center is available at 1-844-959-0479 for any questions regarding credit monitoring.