The Saanich International Student Program was recently notified that guard.me, the travel and medical insurance provider to international students currently and previously enrolled with the Saanich School District, has experienced a cyber security breach incident.
Students of the Saanich School’s international program purchase medical insurance to protect against medical expenses incurred while in Canada. guard.me collects information about students for the purposes of providing coverage and processing benefit claims. Personal information that may be impacted by this incident includes identity information, contact information, and other information provided to support submitted claims.
The Saanich International Student Program is following up with its past and present international students to ensure that students are aware of this incident. Information about this incident is also available at: Notice of Privacy Incident | guard.me
Any time personal information is exposed to potential misuse, it is important that individuals take steps to protect themselves against the risk of financial fraud and identity theft. At this time, we recommend that all affected students take the following steps to protect themselves:
- Protect against the risk of fraud and identify theft by actively monitoring your financial accounts and statements regularly. You should notify your financial institutions and law enforcement authorities immediately of any suspicious activity.
- If you had an online account with guard.me, ensure that you do not use the same login id or password with other online services. If you did, you should change such passwords immediately.
- Contact guard.me about the availability of credit monitoring and other protective services.
- Visit the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre for further information about how to protect yourself. https://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/index-eng.htm
This incident has been reported to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia. If you have questions or concerns about your information or how this incident impacts you, you should contact guard.me directly for more information.
