Highway 407 employee charged in data breach
Posted July 23, 2020 1:21 pm.
Last Updated July 23, 2020 1:22 pm.
A 37-year-old Highway 407 employee has been charged in the data breach of customer information.
The company that operates the tolled 400-series highway said back in May 2018 the personal information of roughly 60,000 customers was stolen from its offices “some time over the past 12 months.”
The stolen data was limited to account names, addresses and phone numbers
York police’s Financial Crimes Unit launched an investigation and arrested the employee on Thursday.
Varun “Bobby” Saini, of Toronto, has been charged with mischief to data and unauthorized use of a computer. He will appear in court on Nov. 15.
The company at the time said they had also notified the federal privacy commissioner and the Ontario Ministry of Transportation.
The incident also came around the time a Progressive Conservative candidate for Brampton East dropped out of the provincial election.
PC Party Leader Doug Ford said they were looking into allegations his resignation was related to the data breach.
The candidate, Simmer Sandhu, was a former employee of the 407. At the time, he called the allegations “totally baseless.”
The 407 ETR bills itself as “the world’s first all-electronic, barrier-free toll highway,” running 108 kilometres from Burlington to Pickering.
