Break and enter at Accenture office nets thieves names, salaries, bank accounts of more than 4,000 of the utility's workers

Lindsay Kines
Times Colonist
Saturday, March 25, 2006

More than 4,000 B.C. Hydro employees got word Friday that criminals may have access to their names, employee numbers, salaries and bank account information following a break, enter and theft at a private company.

Accenture Business Services for Utilities, which handles many of Hydro's administrative functions, confirmed Friday that police are investigating the break-in at one of its locations. The company declined to say where or when it happened, or what, exactly, was stolen.

"We have a potential for compromise of employees' information and we don't want to further compromise that or the criminal investigation by providing additional details," said Accenture's vice-president of communications, Meg Sintzel.

The potential security breach affects 4,200 employees at Hydro and 1,500 at Accenture, but no customer or billing records, she said.

In a memo to employees, Accenture advised them to contact their banks "to discuss appropriate steps to safeguard against the potential misuse of your information."

The company also said that it was consulting with B.C.'s privacy commissioner.

B.C. Hydro president Bob Elton said in a memo to staff that Hydro has requested a "full review" from Accenture. He also stated that social insurance numbers, addresses and birth dates "were not part of the information stolen."

"I, too, am distressed at what has transpired," he said in the memo to all B.C. Hydro employees. "I want to assure you that no employee will suffer any financial loss as a result of this criminal break and enter."

The break-in was revealed the same day the provincial government released a report on an earlier security breach in which tapes containing the personal information of British Columbians were sold at auction. The government has banned such sales in future.

Recommendations in the report include beefed-up policies around the sale of government property and improvements to employee accountability.

It also suggests looking at the feasibility of encrypting government data on portable storage devices such as laptops and BlackBerrys.

Another recommendation calls on the government to make it mandatory to report lost portable devices, including storage media, within 24 hours from the time of loss.

Energy Minister Richard Neufeld called the timing of the break-in at Accenture "ironic" and described the threat to Hydro employees' personal information as "terribly unfortunate."

"I want to assure the union and the folks that the privacy of people's information is paramount to us," said Neufeld, who oversees B.C. Hydro. "I don't take this lightly and neither does government.

"I'd rather not have it happen, but the fact they broke into a business and stole some computer information -- that could almost happen anywhere. You can't control the thieves that want to do these kinds of things."

Neufeld said he'll await the results of initial inquires by police, Accenture and the privacy commissioner before deciding upon further action.

The Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union, however, raised concerns Friday that such private information was apparently accessible to thieves.

"Our immediate concern right now, obviously, is protection of our members' financial accounts and records," union spokesman Andy Ross said. "But the bigger story, once we get past this, is how on earth this could happen in British Columbia."

With files from The Canadian Press

© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2006