Canada-wide freeze on Crime Stoppers programs, partnerships surges to 35 agencies

CBC News reports that its investigation found anonymous tips attached to over 60 Canadian Crime Stoppers chapters were compromised in a data hack last March — exposing phone numbers, addresses and even the names of some tipsters.[1]According to CBC, Navigate360 — the third-party U.S.-based company that manages all of Crime Stoppers international tips — · confirmed its systems had been breached[1] on Friday. CBC says this was its first public acknowledgment of the hack, seven months after it happened.[1]CBC reports that all five Crime Stoppers programs in Saskatchewan announced · they were pausing all tips intake across the province, effective immediately.[1] The Saskatchewan association told CBC that "through legal counsel, we are pressing Navigate360 for the information we need."[2]CBC says that a single chapter, New Brunswick Crime Stoppers, said it intends to continue its program.[1] CBC also reports that out of a total of 35 chapters contacted, 10 replied directly to CBC News or subsequently issued public statements[1].The Winnipeg Police Service said in a press release, as quoted by CBC, that "public trust is essential to the success of any reporting platform"[1].My Timmins Now reports that the OPP is putting its relationship with Crime Stoppers on hold following a cybersecurity incident involving a third-party provider of a tip management platform.[3]Tech analyst Carmi Levy told Global News that "Crime Stoppers' brand as we know it is essentially dead"[4].