3 men arrested in connection with data hack involving 360,000 Quebec teachers

The Sret du Qubechavearrestedthree Montreal men in connection with a data breach that affectedthousandsof teachers across the province.

Frdric Lapointe, 41, Rath Pak, 41, and Jimmy Saintelien, 39, are each facing charges of fraud, identity theft, possession of counterfeitdocuments, unauthorized use of credit card data, and unauthorized use of a computer.

The provincial Treasury Board announced on Feb. 19 of this year that hackers had accessed the personal records ofas many as 360,000 active and retired teachers.

The data wascontained in a provincial government database, which appears to have been accessed using a stolen user ID and password.

The trio's alleged crimes date to the spring of 2018, and occurred "in several regions of Quebec,"provincial policesaid in a statement.

The investigation was carried out jointly by the SQ's financial crimes unitand the Quebec Education Ministry.

Julie Deslauriers, a kindergarten teacher in Montreal, was one of thousands who received a notice from the government last summer indicating her personal data may have been stolen.

"I'm more prudent now than I was, more careful about everything," she told CBC News. "I change my passwords more often."

Deslaurier said it's a relief that arrests have been made, but said she hopes police have tracked down everyone involved.

A union representing 7,500 English-language teachers in Quebec said the incidentwill leave a lasting impression.

"You end up having mistrust with the government," said Heidi Yetman, president of the Quebec Provincial Association ofTeachers. "You would suspect that your data would be in good hands, and that's not the case."

The hard feelings have been exacerbated by the fact thatdelivery of the noticeswarningteachers ofpotential identity theft were delayed by as long as five months.

The government has attributed the delays to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The province is paying forfive years' worth of credit protection forthe teachers whose data may have been accessed.