b.c. govt computers hacked

we live in a world where identity theft is constantly increasing, yet our own provincial b.c. government cannot safe guard thier own computers. if they can get in to drop graphics, how can you tell for certain that data files were not read or saved? and given only a few days ago, the province was negligent and auctioned off computer tapes containing thousands of personal records, including information about people's medical conditions, their social insurance numbers and their dates of birth.

Hackers put porn on government computers
Thursday, March 09, 2006, Times Colonist (Victoria)

B.C. government computers were used to store pornographic material by hackers who recently compromised the province's system.

Labour and Citizens' Services Minister Mike de Jong said Wednesday that the RCMP were called to investigate the hackers due to the nature of the material deposited on the government system.

Initially, he declined to describe that material, saying he'd leave it up to reporters' imaginations. But when pushed, de Jong said: "I'm told that it's . . . my suspicion is it was pornographic material. But I haven't seen it, so I can't verify that.''

When asked whether he was told that hackers placed child pornography on the government system, de Jong replied: "I don't know that it was. I think that I was told that it was pornographic material.''

The intrusion into the government system was revealed Tuesday in question period by the NDP, who said hackers had access for a two-month period late in 2005.

NDP house leader Mike Farnworth wrote a letter to B.C. Information and Privacy Commissioner David Loukidelis, asking him to investigate. On Wednesday, Loukidelis said he had asked his staff to speak with government information technology staff about the incident.

"At this point, I would characterize it as a set of fact-gathering exercises rather than an investigation,'' Loukidelis said.

The only way the privacy commissioner will become formally involved is if there has been a breach of private information. De Jong has repeatedly denied there was such a breach, saying the government's chief information officer has assured him that the hackers only deposited material and didn't access files on the government system.

Loukidelis said he will try to determine whether it is possible for the government to be certain that no personal information was accessed by the hackers, who gained access through a service provider in the Netherlands.

The RCMP's Pacific Region Integrated Technical Crime Unit is investigating the system breach, said Cpl. Tom Seaman, a spokesman for the force in Vancouver. "We expect that to conclude shortly,'' Seaman said. "We also have an ongoing relationship with the provincial government in ensuring the security of its computer systems.''

Seaman said he couldn't provide details of the investigation. "We're investigating hacking. You can call it that.''

He said this is just one of several instances where people have attempted to hack into the government's system.

De Jong listed a number of what he said were similar attempts by hackers when the NDP was in power in the 1990s. When asked if this was different because the hackers were successful, he said: "How do you characterize the successful depositing of a virus?''

"These attempts to breach the network occur with regularity and create, unfortunately in the minds of people, this notion that people are accessing the computer network on an ad-hoc willy-nilly basis and the facts just don't support that assertion.''

De Jong said he relied on his chief information officer that no information was accessed. "I have to rely on the advice I get from people far more technically qualified on network security than I am.''