Security breach affects BC Hydro customers
Posted July 2, 2012 11:52 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Keep a close eye on your BC Hydro bill if you paid with a credit card online last month. A security breach may have left your information vulnerable. The utilities company claims the problem has now been fixed.
The issue, according to Jennifer Young with BC Hydro, is with the third party company Hydro uses to process online payments, “What was happening is that the customer information was not being encrypted within the browser.”
It happened with transactions over the web before June 18th.
Young is downplaying the risk to customers, “In total, about 0.5 per cent of total payments received by BC Hydro are received through [the third party system]. The vast majority of payments are received through other channels.”
So has anyone been hit yet?
“We’re not aware of any breach of customer account or credit card information,” says Young.
She says Hydro has sent letters to anyone who may have been caught up in the breach.
Young suggests you double-check your credit card statement if you paid online. As well, Young says, “We’re advising customers to clear their browser history on the computer that they used to make the credit card payment.”
“We apologize for any concerns this may have caused customers. We would like to reassure customers that the glitch has been fixed and the system is safe and secure again.”
