The Martlet

Electronics that Saanich Police believe are those stolen from UVic in the Jan. 7–8 break-in of the Administrative Services Building are now in police possession.

A Canada Post employee found the laptops, flash drives and other devices inside a Canada Post red street letter box near Bear Mountain Parkway on Jan. 18. The items were in a black garbage bag labeled “From UVic,” along with a note apparently from the party who left them there. All of the items were drilled out so that they are inoperable.

“We had a technical assessment done on these things,” says Sergeant Dean Jantzen of Saanich Police, “and the word from the IT specialist, the computer forensic specialist, was, ‘Well, someone did this who knew what they were doing and how to destroy a hard drive,’ because typically these guys have a very high degree of success in recovering some data off a hard drive that’s been compromised.”

In this case all data was irretrievable.

It was not a hammer smash job. The perpetrators used a significant steel bit in a heavy drill to expertly disable the drives. This has increased concerns for the investigators who don’t know whether those responsible may be motivated by altruism, guilt or something more sinister.

Saanich Police reported on Jan. 25 that one of the media storage devices among the lot is “clearly not the one that was stolen from UVic,” and may be a replica of the original containing the data taken from UVic. They also released an image of the note from inside the bag, asking if anyone recognizes any of the phrases used and for tips.

“We did receive calls on that,” says Jantzen, but adds “nothing that has changed the scope of the investigation as yet.”

He also says the one key piece is still outstanding, but that no further developments have come about as far as frauds perpetrated against the many victims of this information theft. The note claims the information was not copied, distributed or exploited.

The devices match descriptions, makes and models of those stolen from UVic, but the serial number stickers and anything that may have been used to conclusively trace their origin were removed.

“What we’re left with is a series of items that are consistent with what was taken,” says Jantzen. “We believe it’s the stuff from UVic. We just can’t forensically prove it by serial number which we would rather do in a situation like this.”

Saanich Police and UVic Communications say this news doesn’t affect ongoing response, and that people affected should continue to contact their banks and credit bureaus and put fraud alerts on their files to avoid future frauds or identity issues. UVic Vice President of Finance Gayle Gorrill announced last Friday that the university would begin sending personalized letters and emails to affected current and former employees this week.

The correspondence will give details on how to enroll for 12 months of free credit monitoring services. The public is once again reminded never to give out personal or financial information via email and to call Saanich Police or Crime Stoppers with any information related to this crime.