B.C. auditor general says justice database has big security holes

VICTORIA – B.C.’s auditor general says there are gaping security holes in a provincial database used to manage criminal cases, a criticism the government says it’s already acting to fix.

John Doyle’s audit of the database known as JUSTIN says the controls to detect or ward off unauthorized access to sensitive police and court information are inadequate.

JUSTIN allows adult and youth criminal cases to be tracked and processed from initial police arrests and Crown counsel charge assessments through to court judgments.

Doyle’s report says the JUSTIN system holds information on more than one million police investigations, and it contains some of the government’s most sensitive information, but it’s not safe from being hacked.

Justice Minister Shirley Bond says her ministry has already taken action on Doyle’s report and some major security risks in the JUSTIN system have been addressed.

Bond says the case-tracking system has been reinforced with stronger defence mechanisms to prevent unauthorized and inappropriate access.