Hamilton, Halton police pause use of Crime Stoppers program after data breach

Hamilton and Halton police say they are suspending its use of Crime Stoppers following a cyber-security breach of the third-party platform that manages its anonymous tips.

Hamilton police say it has paused its use of the Crime Stoppers program while seeking further information about the security of its tip-management system, Navigate360, and the measures taken following a reported security breach.

They say Crime Stoppers had alerted them to a reported cybersecurity compromise in June, and provided assurances that steps had been taken to mitigate the risk.

Hamilton police say they are now seeking further information to assess if appropriate safeguards are in place before they resume using the program.

READ MORE: Toronto Crime Stoppers temporarily stops accepting tips after data breach

Halton police also says it has suspended receiving tips while more information on the scope and impact of the data breach is under investigation.

Toronto Crime Stoppers was also affected, with more than 175, 000 tips and 15,000 names stolen by hackers.

“This is incredibly troubling because it opens the door for retribution attacks and it also calls into question whether Crime Stoppers, as an entity, will even be feasible going forward,” said Carmi Levy, a tech analyst. “Can law enforcement agencies guarantee anonymity to people who help them in their investigations? The short answer currently is, they cannot.”

Members of the public who wish to provide information about a crime are asked to contact police directly, though it does not provide the anonymity associated with the Crime Stoppers program.

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