Chief of Police Scott Fraser. Kingstonist file photograph by Michelle Dorey Forestell.
Held over the lunch hour on Thursday, Jan.16, 2025, at Kingston Police Headquarters, the primary Kingston Police Companies Board assembly of the brand new yr was brief and candy.
A short election and an replace on the latest cybersecurity incident had been the one issues included on the general public agenda. After Chair Jarrod Stearns and Vice-Chair Mayor Bryan Paterson had been unanimously reelected, Chief of Police Scott Fraser offered the cybersecurity replace.
“On January 3rd, 2025, we identified a network issue at the Kingston Police. We immediately commenced an investigation into that issue, and it revealed that a cybersecurity incident did occur,” the chief acknowledged.
“Currently the investigation is ongoing, and we are committed to transparency and sharing information as soon as it is safe to do so, and as soon as it is secure for us to do so.”
In keeping with Fraser, “Cyber incidents generally happen at random, and there are individuals who are probing for access across a wide range of organizations, as we unfortunately see in the news quite frequently. Kingston Police does have cybersecurity measures in place, which are updated regularly. While we can and do take action to secure online data, there are currently really no known security measures available to make a network 100 per cent completely invulnerable to such situations.”
The chief stated these with Kingston Police “continue to notify the Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC) of the cyber incident,” and that Kingston Police are following the rules offered by the IPC “in assessing the nature of the incident and notifying affected members of the public as needed.” He stated the pressure would “take the time required to get back to our standard operations,” acknowledging that it may take a number of months of “gradual and intentional restoring of services to their full capacity on a priority basis, which is constantly being determined by leadership.”
Whereas the timeline for restoration is evolving, Fraser stated, “the Kingston Police is committed to resolving the situation as efficiently and effectively as possible, and we have the right resources — which is very important — in place to do such a thing.”
He emphasised that Kingston Police proceed to answer emergency requires service.
“We’re unable to make further comment on the ongoing investigation. However, the important focus is that the Kingston Police immediately shut down access, operationalized the team — which includes third-party cybersecurity professionals — to support our investigation and ongoing response, and are making progress in restoring our systems and protecting against future incidents,” Fraser stated.
“So, in a nutshell, that’s where we are now,” the chief concluded. “As more information becomes available, we’ll release as much information as possible. I would say it’s a very complex situation, but we are managing.”
The members of the Kingston Police Service Board requested no questions and, with that, the assembly was moved in digital camera.
The Kingston Police Companies Board held a fast election on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, with each chair and vice-chair unanimously reelected. Clockwise from left: Deputy Police Chief Scott Gee, Police Chief Scott Fraser, Chair Jarrod Stearns, Vice-Chair Mayor Bryan Paterson, Councillor Jamshed (Jimmy) Hassan, provincial appointee Christian Leuprecht, neighborhood appointee Gail MacAllister, Councillor Greg Ridge, and Board Administrator Lorie Sargeant.
Background on the ‘cyber incident’
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Cybercrime Investigations Crew (CIT), along with members of Kingston Police and out of doors consulting consultants, introduced on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, that they had been investigating a cyber incident affecting the Kingston Police.
At the moment, Kingston Police acknowledged that the Friday, Jan. 3, 2025, incident the Fraser referred to had “affected some of our IT systems, particularly our non-emergency functions, which may be experiencing delays.”
Whereas neither Kingston Police nor the OPP disclosed the precise nature of the cyber incident, police did verify in a press release that the power for Kingston Police to answer emergency conditions has not been impacted.
“The OPP CIT, Kingston Police and third-party experts are continuing to investigate the incident and its impacts,” the OPP stated within the assertion. “This is an active and ongoing investigation. Updates will be provided as they become available.”
“Our top priority is to serve and protect the public. We are following a response plan to manage the incident as quickly and effectively as possible. We are also diligently working to ensure that our day-to-day operational activities have alternate processes where necessary and continue to function,” Kingston Police acknowledged on January 6.
“We are working closely with our government and enforcement partners to investigate the incident and to restore services. We have also notified the Kingston Police Service Board, the Mayor and the City of Kingston, who are working to support us in every way they can.”
Anybody with data in relation to this cybersecurity investigation is inspired to name the OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or to contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or ontariocrimestoppers.ca.
The Kingston Police Companies Board meets commonly on the third Thursday of every month, starting at 12 midday within the William Hackett Boardroom at Kingston Police Headquarters, 705 Division Avenue.
