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The personal information of nearly 360,000 teachers in Quebec may have been stolen in a data theft, the Quebec government confirmed on Friday.

Quebec’s Treasury Board took stock in the wake of the ongoing investigation by the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) into identity theft of people working or having worked as teachers.

The hackers had access to a database containing personal information after stealing a user code and password, Quebec’s Treasury Board statement said.

A year ago, the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) arrested two men from Montreal in connection with several identity thefts committed in the spring of 2018 in several regions of Quebec.

The reliability of the government’s computer systems is not called into question, since the theft would have been carried out using a fraudulent password and access code, the board said on Friday.

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The Ministry of Education obtained confirmation on Wednesday that their personal data may have been stolen.

The government has said that those affected will be able to take advantage of free credit monitoring services. Letters will be sent shortly to the individuals concerned.

The SQ is continuing its investigation, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.

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