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N.L. government doesn't know who might have patient and employee data hit by cyberattack – CBC.ca

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Newfoundland and Labrador Health Minister John Haggie and Justice Minister John Hogan say patient information from the Central Health regional authority has been accessed as part of the cyberattack on the province’s health-care system — but they don’t know whether it’s been stolen, or by who.

The news comes one day after officials said both patients and employees in the Eastern Health and Labrador-Grenfell Health regions had their personal information stolen in the same cyberattack.

The government says it doesn’t know who might have the personal information of potentially hundreds of thousands of patients and employees from all three of the health authorities.

Officials had earlier indicated the information from Eastern Health and Labrador-Grenfell had been stolen, but backed off from that on Wednesday. 

“Based on investigations to date, we currently understand that certain data was accessed. The investigation is also focusing on the impact of that access to determine what, if any, data was taken,” said Hogan.

He said there is no evidence the information has been misused.

The breach in all three health authorities includes basic patient information such as names, birthdays, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, medical care plan numbers, marital status, in-patient and outpatient times and the name of the person’s family doctor.

Officials said the personal information of Eastern Health employees going back 14 years, and Labrador Grenfell-Health employees going back nine years, has been accessed.

Central Health CEO Andrée Robichaud said employee information going back 13 years appears to have been accessed but the health authority can’t yet confirm it.

That information includes names, addresses, contact information and social insurance numbers. Haggie said there is no indication banking information was included in the breach, but the government will be providing credit monitoring services.

“We deeply regret that this incident occurred,” Robichaud said.

Robichaud said Central Health has no evidence to indicate that vendor data has been accessed.

Haggie said Western Health patient and employee data has not been accessed, although he would not say how that was determined.

Officials still cagey, cite security concerns

Officials have not said who is behind the health-care system disruptions, and on Wednesday again refused to confirm the nature of the cyberattack. Sources have told CBC News the breach is a ransomware attack.

Haggie said the province has engaged cybersecurity experts to help in the response to the attack, but has not said who those experts are.

Haggie would not say how the data was accessed, or whether it was encrypted, although officials said Tuesday the data was unencrypted.

“Our advice from world-class experts is to say nothing,” Haggie said.

In an interview Wednesday morning, Information and Privacy Commissioner Michael Harvey said his office was first informed of a possible data breach more than a week ago. Haggie said the government did not share that information until it was confirmed for security reasons, and because it did not want to fuel speculation.

“It’s a balance about transparency and speculation,” he said.

Haggie said the Health Department does not have detailed numbers on how many people have been affected by the breach, beyond noting that there are about 400,000 medical interactions per year in the N.L. health-care system.

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Japan’s SoftBank returns to profit after gains at Vision Fund and other investments

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TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.

Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.

Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).

SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.

The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.

WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.

SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.

SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.

SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.

The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.

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Trump campaign promises unlikely to harm entrepreneurship: Shopify CFO

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Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.

“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.

“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”

Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.

On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.

If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.

These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.

If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.

However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.

He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.

“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.

Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.

The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.

Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.

Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.

Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.

Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.

Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”

In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.

“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:SHOP)

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RioCan cuts nearly 10 per cent staff in efficiency push as condo market slows

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TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.

The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.

The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.

RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.

The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.

RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:REI.UN)

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