'Cyber incident' affects health insurance provider for public servants: federal government

Various school boards across the Greater Toronto Area experienced a "cyber incident" after an application they use to store student and limited staff information was exposed to a data breach over the holiday break.

A "cyber incident" has forced an insurance company to freeze its services for Canadian public servants posted abroad or travelling, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) announced on Monday.

According to a statement, MSH International, the sub-contractor to Canada Life that provides emergency travel and comprehensive coverage services to members of the Public Service Health Care Plan (PSHCP), was affected. The TBS was made aware of the incident.

"To protect its network and data, MSH promptly turned off its services and has retained an external cyber incident response firm to help with safe and prompt service restoration," TBS said. "At this time, MSH reports they are unable to process PSHCP claims and members cannot log into the MSH Member Portal."

TBS said it is not known what information held by MSH had been accessed, but that both MSH and Canada Life are "working diligently to investigate the scope of the incident."

The federal government is meeting with Canada Life to monitor the situation, saying that more information will be shared as it becomes available.