Hackers got into the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) database at Christmas time 2021..The hackers offered to sell the information they stole back to the Saskatchewan government for an undisclosed ransom amount..The provincial government has now come under fire for their response to the incident as it issued a media release on December 28, 2021, with few details and nothing since..In the Legislature on Monday, NDP Deputy Leader of the Official Opposition Nicole Sarauer went after the government for their lack of transparency..“Mr. Speaker, we recently learned that this government yet again has fallen to another cyberattack. This time it’s SLGA, which happened three months ago, Mr. Speaker. And three months later is when folks are finally realizing what had happened, many affected only learning that their information was breached after the hackers alerted the media of this government’s failure,” said Sarauer. .“Mr. Speaker, one supplier said, ‘I’m pretty livid. I’m disappointed in the lack of transparency. I feel like they were not totally upfront about the severity of the breach.’”.Reporters hammered Jim Reiter, the minister responsible for SLGA, with questions about the data breach and all they got was a vague answer..“I’ve spoken with colleagues across the country, every provincial government is struggling with this and I believe the feds are, private industry is, it’s just more and more prevalent. It’s troubling and speaks to the necessity to improve our systems,” said Reiter..This is not the first data breach and the second on a file under Reiter’s care..“There has been no transparency or accountability and this is common practice with this government. We’ve seen a lack of transparency in many ministries and many events and many other data breaches. This one is no different and it’s resulted in many people who work with SLGA not even knowing their confidential information had been accessed,” said Sarauer..This government needs to step up, be transparent, fully disclose what happened here, fully disclose why this wasn’t communicated to the individuals affected by the breach in a timely fashion. Be accountable, explain what’s going to happen and ensure this doesn’t happen again.”.Sarauer is concerned about how the business community reacts to the government’s attitude towards the data breach..“The minister’s response to this whole thing is a real joke and it’s frustrating for someone who wants to see our province as a government be reputable and respected in all sorts of business circles,” said Sarauer..“When we see a lackadaisical attitude toward this sort of thing and a blame almost on the users of SLGA, the clients of SLGA. It really hurts our reputation in the business community. This government should be more worried about that than they are.”.Reiter pointed to the SLGA’s immediate response to the data breach, which was to bring in a law firm..“They brought in one that basically specializes in hacks…used them to help coordinate the response and how they deal with this,” said Reiter..Reiter was asked if the law firm retained negotiated with the hackers..“I believe they were involved in that,” said Reiter..SLGA and the government did not consider giving ransom money to the hackers..Reiter said, “I would be opposed to that. I don’t want to be in a position where we are paying tax dollars as ransom to criminals. What message does that send to the next hackers?”.Chris Oldcorn is a Western Standard Reporter based in Regina.,coldcorn@westernstandard.news,Twitter: @chrisoldcorn,.Parler: @chrisoldcorn
Hackers got into the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) database at Christmas time 2021..The hackers offered to sell the information they stole back to the Saskatchewan government for an undisclosed ransom amount..The provincial government has now come under fire for their response to the incident as it issued a media release on December 28, 2021, with few details and nothing since..In the Legislature on Monday, NDP Deputy Leader of the Official Opposition Nicole Sarauer went after the government for their lack of transparency..“Mr. Speaker, we recently learned that this government yet again has fallen to another cyberattack. This time it’s SLGA, which happened three months ago, Mr. Speaker. And three months later is when folks are finally realizing what had happened, many affected only learning that their information was breached after the hackers alerted the media of this government’s failure,” said Sarauer. .“Mr. Speaker, one supplier said, ‘I’m pretty livid. I’m disappointed in the lack of transparency. I feel like they were not totally upfront about the severity of the breach.’”.Reporters hammered Jim Reiter, the minister responsible for SLGA, with questions about the data breach and all they got was a vague answer..“I’ve spoken with colleagues across the country, every provincial government is struggling with this and I believe the feds are, private industry is, it’s just more and more prevalent. It’s troubling and speaks to the necessity to improve our systems,” said Reiter..This is not the first data breach and the second on a file under Reiter’s care..“There has been no transparency or accountability and this is common practice with this government. We’ve seen a lack of transparency in many ministries and many events and many other data breaches. This one is no different and it’s resulted in many people who work with SLGA not even knowing their confidential information had been accessed,” said Sarauer..This government needs to step up, be transparent, fully disclose what happened here, fully disclose why this wasn’t communicated to the individuals affected by the breach in a timely fashion. Be accountable, explain what’s going to happen and ensure this doesn’t happen again.”.Sarauer is concerned about how the business community reacts to the government’s attitude towards the data breach..“The minister’s response to this whole thing is a real joke and it’s frustrating for someone who wants to see our province as a government be reputable and respected in all sorts of business circles,” said Sarauer..“When we see a lackadaisical attitude toward this sort of thing and a blame almost on the users of SLGA, the clients of SLGA. It really hurts our reputation in the business community. This government should be more worried about that than they are.”.Reiter pointed to the SLGA’s immediate response to the data breach, which was to bring in a law firm..“They brought in one that basically specializes in hacks…used them to help coordinate the response and how they deal with this,” said Reiter..Reiter was asked if the law firm retained negotiated with the hackers..“I believe they were involved in that,” said Reiter..SLGA and the government did not consider giving ransom money to the hackers..Reiter said, “I would be opposed to that. I don’t want to be in a position where we are paying tax dollars as ransom to criminals. What message does that send to the next hackers?”.Chris Oldcorn is a Western Standard Reporter based in Regina.,coldcorn@westernstandard.news,Twitter: @chrisoldcorn,.Parler: @chrisoldcorn
