A cybersecurity breach affecting systems across the province has exposed all Region of Queens tax accounts.

The Nova Scotia Government learned that MOVEit, a system used to transfer files across different departments and levels of government was breached between May 30-31. The breach exposed names, addresses, account numbers, payment amount and balance owing for 17,500 water and tax bill accounts in Queens but does not include credit card or other financial information.

Mayor Darlene Norman says it’s important for residents to be vigilant about potential scams. “There’s always the risk of whoever or whatever who has breached and has access to this information can use it in such a way that they may phone someone up and say, you know, this is Region of Queens calling,”

Mayor Norman says a common scam is for someone to pose as a representative of the Region of Queens and demand credit card payment over the phone. Norman says the Region would never ask for payment in that way. She advises anyone who receives a similar call to notify RCMP and the Region of Queens.

The province has advised that MOVEit was taken offline June 1 for a security update, then taken offline again on June 2 for further investigation. It has been updated and additional monitoring is in place.

The breach involved more than 5,800 folders, each containing multiple files and records.

The process to notify all the affected individuals and send notification letters is expected to take weeks.

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