After a cyberattack with ransomware that “put at risk” its confidential data and those of its prestigious members last summer, the former Celine Dion golf club is suing its IT supplier.
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On the morning of July 22, the accounting system of the very select Le Mirage golf club was no longer responding. Hackers had just encrypted its data using software from its IT supplier, HelpOx.
Alerted in the morning, this Mascouche company did not say anything about the attack, however, according to the pursuit of the Mirage, sold in November to Mario Messier and to former hockey players Serge Savard and José Théodore.
It was finally another company hired urgently that informed him that pirates had attacked the golf course of Terrebonne. They demanded a ransom of US $ 1.4 million to decrypt HelpOx customer data.
Data at risk
The attack caused by its supplier not only interrupted the Mirage’s activities, but also put “computer data at risk.” […], including his confidential information and that of his clients, ”affirms the pursuit of the prestigious private club.
According to our information, there is no indication that data has been leaked, but nothing can exclude it either, hackers having entered the servers.
The Mirage declined to comment.
“Your questions relate to a period prior to our acquisition and relate to the previous owner,” said Mario Messier, according to an email from his spokesperson, Jean-Maurice Duddin.
The lawsuit was however filed in December, when he was already the owner.
“Omissions and negligence”
Le Mirage is claiming $ 141,691 from HelpOx for the costs incurred, “due to serious faults, omissions and negligence committed”.
When Le Mirage contacted the company on the morning of July 22, an employee simply said that HelpOx was experiencing “a worldwide problem” affecting all of its customers, according to the lawsuit.
In the evening, when the club had spent the day trying to resolve its problem, a manager “pretended not to be aware of the details” of his problem, reports the request.
The next evening, another company called in for backup, Microfix, quickly found that REvil / Sodinokibi-type ransomware had struck.
– With the collaboration of Diane Meilleur
