Crime Cybercrime Stops Crime Stoppers

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Privacy commissioner looking into Crime Stoppers tip line hack. Here’s what you need to know
The breach could render tipsters vulnerable to identity theft, fraud and in some cases risk their public safety, according to experts.

www.thestar.com

Privacy commissioner looking into Crime Stoppers tip line hack. Here’s what you need to know

The breach could render tipsters vulnerable to identity theft, fraud and in some cases risk their public safety, according to experts.
www.thestar.com www.thestar.com

The federal privacy commissioner is examining a large-scale Crime Stoppers data breach that exposed nearly 1.5 million Canadian tips, prompting some local branches to pause the program amid security and safety concerns for tipsters.

Despite the breach falling outside their mandate, Vito Pilieci, spokesperson for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, said the agency has offered “expertise and guidance” in the aftermath of the breach, and is seeking more information from Navigate360 “before determining next steps.”

Pilieci said he was not in a position to comment further.

As first reported by CBC, the information was stolen last March by a hacking group seeking to disprove the company’s claim that its platform was “anonymous” and “secure.”

All told, more 8.3 million tips were exposed, according to the investigation, 1.5 million of which were submitted by Canadians. In some cases, names of the tipsters or other personal information, like phone numbers or addresses, were included in the data.

The breach, unprecedented in both scope and severity, according to experts who spoke to the Star, could render tipsters vulnerable to offences like identity theft and fraud, and in some cases, risk their public safety. Some local programs, including in Toronto, have opted to pause accepting tips after learning the extent of the leak.

“It could be really dangerous if (this information) got into the wrong hands,” said Lisa Danay Wallace, a lawyer specializing in information technology and privacy. “It takes it a big step further, into physical risk.”
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What’s the timeline?

A coalition of hackers, dubbed Internet Yiff Machine, stole data from P3, the tip software used by the charity since 2018, in March. A week later, the organization said Navigate360 informed them that the system was “safe and fully operational.”

Crime Stoppers says it was told by Navigate360 in May that the data — a total of 91GB — had been recovered.

In a statement shared Thursday, Crime Stoppers Toronto said it took months to gain clarity on the extent of the breach. The Guelph Wellington branch shared a similar statement on Thursday.

In that time, a copy of the hacked data was made available to researchers and journalists by Distributed Denial of Secrets, an American non-profit that publishes hacked documents, if deemed to be in the public interest.

CBC’s reporting, published on Wednesday, was the first time the Toronto branch was made aware that the leaked information had been accessed by an outside party.
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What are the implications?

Some of the leaked tips contained personal information, such as full names, addresses and phone numbers, along with allegations they reported to the non-profit. Some of the tips resulted in arrests or charges, with tipsters receiving cash rewards.

“This creates a unique situation where very sensitive, highly sensitive information has been breached,” Danay Wallace said.

But the risk is not only to the tipsters; the leaked tips could harm the reputations of those being reported, particularly if the allegations contained within were unfounded.

“People that are being accused in these tips; they’re still innocent until proven guilty, too,” said Danay Wallace.
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How many Toronto tips were compromised?

Toronto Crime Stoppers saw the most tips of any Canadian city exposed in the breach, a total of 179,891, including more than 14,000 names.

Spokesperson Sean Sportun says the organization has not had the opportunity to review the leaked tips.

“(Navigate360) has not given us the text of the tips, despite repeated requests through our lawyers, so we can’t see what each one says,” Sportun said in a written statement to the Star. The organization says it continues to seek the stolen tips from Navigate360, along with a “full account of what happened.”

Toronto Crime Stoppers announced Thursday it was pausing its tips program and is currently asking the public to direct reports to Toronto police. Sportun says it will not readopt the program until it “can stand behind the system that protects (its tips.)”

“This week’s reporting shows the data has travelled beyond Navigate360, and we don’t know who else may have a copy,” he said. “So we are acting as if it could be misused.”

Along with Toronto police, Hamilton, and Peel, York, Halton and Durham police services have also suspended the intake of tips.
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What now?

The Crime Stoppers of Canada Association says that the tip program and software has since been secured.

“Navigate360 has advised us that third-party cybersecurity experts have investigated the breach, identified vulnerabilities and completed remediation,” association vice president Craig MacPhail told the Star.

The national tip program remains in operation.

MacPhail says the national association respects the decision of independent branches and continues to work with local programs to implement additional measures and oversights.

“These measures strengthen protections for current and future submissions, said MacPhail. “They cannot undo the exposure of information already taken, which remains a serious concern.”
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Timeline of events

Have you, or someone you know, provided tips to Crime Stoppers between January 2022 and November 2025? Watch your back.

It's not just Toronto, by the way. Although many of the regional and local sites have no mention of the breach.
 
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CBC says Canadian Privacy Watchdogs are refusing to investigate the Crime Stoppers data breach

Holy shit this is huge. Crimestoppers is SHUTDOWN for the moment

Why are Crimestoppers tips even on a computer connected to the internet?
It should be a pen and paper (and possibly a lighter) type of organization.
 
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