Six months after cyberattack, LifeLabs says it has appointed a CISO and rolled out new security policies

Half a year after suffering arguably the worst data breach in Canadian history, LifeLabs provided its customers with an update on what it’s doing to make sure history isn’t repeated.

In an email obtained by IT World Canada, LifeLabs chief executive officer Charles Brown released a statement to customers on June 11, noting “I cannot change what happened, but I assure you that I have made every effort toward making change to provide you services you can trust.”

Here is the list of changes LifeLabs is introducing, according to the email:

Part of an email from June 11 sent to LifeLabs customers. According to his LinkedIn profile, LifeLabs’ former senior IT manager was appointed to be the CISO last December.

Brown also wrote that the breach delivered LifeLabs a stern reminder that “we must continuously work to protect ourselves against cybercrime” and that “data protection and privacy are now central to everything we do.”

The update from LifeLabs comes on the heels of a report from data protection company Veritas that says public consumers are seeking apologies, fines and even prison sentences for CEOs who fail to protect their businesses. Forty per cent of consumers hold business leaders personally responsible for ransomware attacks businesses suffer, according to the Veritas survey, which interviewed roughly 12,000 consumers. Thirty per cent would demand the CEO be banned from running a company if it suffered a cyberattack. Twenty-three per cent of those surveyed want to send CEOs to prison for mishandling data.

And despite nearly 90 per cent of respondents in a recent survey conducted by The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) saying customer privacy is an important corporate objective, only 60 per cent of those businesses say they have procedures in place to respond to customers’ requests to access their personal information.

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Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

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Pragya Sehgal
Pragya Sehgal
Born and raised in the capital city of India - Delhi - bounded by the river Yamuna on the west, Pragya has climbed the Himalayas, and survived medical professional stream in high school without becoming a patient or a doctor. Pragya now makes her home in Canada with her husband - a digital/online marketing fanatic who also loves to prepare delicious meals for her. When she isn’t working or writing around tech, she’s probably watching art films on Netflix, or wondering whether she should cut her hair short or not. Can be contacted at psehgal@itwc.ca or 647.695.3494.

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