May 31, 2024: Statement from the Chief Administrative Officer for the Town of Westlock: Cybersecurity Incident

Office of the Chief Administrative Officer
10003-106 Street
Westlock, AB, T7P 2K3

May 31, 2024

Statement from the Chief Administrative Officer for the Town of Westlock: Cybersecurity Incident

The Town of Westlock prioritizes the privacy, security, and welfare of our community members and staff. On January 31, 2024, we detected a cybersecurity incident involving unauthorized access to a portion of our IT infrastructure. We acted immediately to secure our network and data from further unauthorized activity and engaged third-party cybersecurity experts to contain and remediate the breach and perform a forensic investigation to determine the nature and extent of the incident.

As soon as we learned that personal information was impacted, our team conducted an exhaustive, manual review of the impacted data to identify impacted individuals and the specific types of personal information involved. This intensive process spanned several weeks.

We have contacted those affected by this incident directly and are providing credit monitoring and identity protection services to support them. Additionally, we have implemented enhanced security measures to strengthen our defences and to better protect against future incidents. We are working closely with external legal advisors and have reported this incident to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta.

We take the security of personal information seriously and deeply regret any inconvenience or concern this incident may have caused. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we navigate this incident.

Simone Wiley, Chief Administrative Officer
Town of Westlock
780-350-2100