Toronto Crime Stoppers pauses tips after cyber breach affects 176K submissions

Toronto Crime Stoppers has halted the intake of tips following a cybersecurity breach that may have exposed identifying information of 176,859 submissions. The organization is urging the public to refrain from submitting tips while they establish safer reporting options. Chair Sean Sportun stated that the breach, which affected its software provider, led to the pausing of the program.

The organization was initially given a list of nearly 15,000 names but later confirmed that 176,859 tips were affected, with 12,392 potentially containing personal information. Toronto Crime Stoppers had previously notified Navigate360, the tip software provider, of the breach in June, but the provider had previously assured the organization that Canadian data was not affected.

Sportun emphasized that the organization never requests names and that people sometimes include details to explain what they witnessed. However, he noted that some of the original tips containing potentially identifying information were stolen. Navigate360 has provided a list of 14,973 names, but Sportun stated that it lacks the necessary detail to measure the risk involved.

Toronto police have temporarily suspended the use of Crime Stoppers while they assess new safeguards and measures, advising the public to use existing police reporting channels.