N.S. Liberals call for emergency meeting on Nova Scotia Power ransomware attack
Interim Liberal Leader Derek Mombourquette said Thursday the matter is an urgent one considering the personal information of 280,000 customers has been compromised.
Mombourquette said Nova Scotians deserve answers and the utility's executives should appear before the all-party public accounts committee to provide them.
"This is an opportunity for Nova Scotia Power to speak publicly on what took place and explain to Nova Scotians — as [Nova Scotia Power] asks for more money on their rates — what happened," Mombourquette told reporters in Halifax.
Nova Scotia Power confirmed last week it was the victim of a ransomware attack and that hackers who stole data published it on the dark web.
The roughly 280,000 customers it has sent letters to warning about the attack represents more than half of the utility's customers in the province.
The president of Nova Scotia Power said no ransom has been paid and the utility is working with cybersecurity experts as it investigates the situation.
In a letter to the chair of public accounts, Mombourquette requested that Nova Scotia Power leadership appear before the committee for an examination into what he has described as "one of the most significant privacy breaches in Nova Scotia's history."
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said the cyber attack is "scary" and another reminder people need to take steps to protect their personal information.
She is in favour of a comprehensive examination of what happened.
"We absolutely support a deeper probe from government into how this happened, how it is being dealt with, and making sure it never happens again," Chender said.
The chair of the committee, NDP MLA Susan Leblanc, agreed the matter is urgent "and deserves discussion."
Committee members are now being asked to vote on whether to try to schedule a meeting for next week. It needs to be unanimous for that to happen.
Nova Scotia Cyber Security Minister Jill Balser is encouraging those who received alerts from Nova Scotia Power to sign up for the credit monitoring service and do things like change passwords to their accounts.
Balser said resources and help are also available from her department.
"I want us to be a place where Nova Scotians can get that support," Balser said.
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