Canadian accountants’ association suffers cyberattack; data of nearly 330K affected

TORONTO — The Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada says a cyberattack on its website has affected the personal information of more than 329,000 members and stakeholders.

The organization says the information includes names, addresses, emails and employer names, but that passwords and credit card numbers were protected by encryption.

CPA Canada warns the data could be used in email phishing scams and encourages those affected to “remain vigilant.”

It says the personal information relates mainly to the distribution of CPA Magazine and that everyone impacted has been notified. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre and privacy authorities have also been contacted.

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CPA Canada did not state when the breach occurred, but says it beefed up its security measures after learning about the incident.

Hacks against a wide range of companies since 2018 have included medical test laboratory LifeLabs and credit union Desjardins, which combined saw the theft of the personal information of more than 19 million Canadians.