Lakelands Public Health says 60,000 Peterborough residents hit by January breach
Lakelands Public Health says personal health information on about 60,000 current and former residents of Peterborough and Peterborough County was stolen in a cyberattack the agency discovered on Jan. 29.
The notice, dated June 30, closes a five-month investigation into the incident. Public health units hold long-lived records on lab results, immunizations and clinical services, and the exposed files reach back three decades.
What happened
According to Lakelands' notice, staff found suspicious activity after certain systems became inaccessible. An unauthorized party had gained remote access to a limited part of the network and accessed, copied and encrypted files on the Peterborough office server. All files were restored from backups.
In early February, medical officer of health Dr. Thomas Piggott told Global News the agency was taking a proactive approach and that systems holding infectious disease data were not compromised. Some programs were disrupted during the recovery.
What was exposed
The affected group includes people who received services from the agency, or whose health information, such as lab results, it received, from 1996 through January 2026. Depending on the person, data may include:
- Names, birthdates, addresses and phone numbers.
- OHIP numbers and billing codes.
- Diagnoses, medications and treatment information.
- Dates of service, vaccination records and provider details.
Lakelands reported the breach to police and to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. It says experts found no evidence the data has been used for fraud or published online, and it rates the risk as low. The notice does not offer credit monitoring.
Context
Lakelands serves the city and county of Peterborough, Northumberland and Haliburton counties, Kawartha Lakes and the First Nations of Curve Lake and Alderville. The stolen files came from its Peterborough office server.
What to do
Residents should watch for unsolicited calls or texts referencing health services, report suspected OHIP misuse to the Ministry of Health, and call the agency's incident line at 249-588-0044 with questions. Lakelands says it will not ask for sensitive information by email or text.
